Scientists make DNA discovery that could help find a cure for pancreatic cancer
Scientists have made a major DNA discovery that could help cure one of the deadliest forms of cancer.
A team of researchers from the UK and US has discovered that pancreatic cancer can switch off molecules in one of the body’s most important genes, allowing the disease to grow and spread faster.
Pancreatic cancer is the 12th most common cancer worldwide, with more than half a million people diagnosed each year. It has the worst survival rates of all the most common forms of the disease.
The deadly nature of pancreatic cancer has puzzled experts for years, but this breakthrough offers hope in the search for a treatment that can eradicate the disease.
Dr Maria Hatziapostolou from the John van Geest Cancer Research Centre at Nottingham Trent University said: “This work, which has provided new insight and knowledge into how cancer behaves, will hopefully pave the way for potential new treatments in the future.”
She added: “Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate of all 20 common cancers. Patient survival after five years has barely improved for some time and so it is incredibly important that we find new ways to better understand this disease, how it spreads and why it is so aggressive.”
Pancreatic cancer is often diagnosed at an advanced stage, when treatment options are limited. More than half of patients die within three months of diagnosis. Notable people who have died from the disease include Alan Rickman, John Hurt, Steve Jobs and Patrick Swayze.
For the study, published in the journal Gastro Hep Advances, researchers analyzed both healthy tissue samples and pancreatic cancer tissue samples. They found that pancreatic cancers triggered a process known as DNA methylation, which turned off molecules in the normally beneficial HNF4A gene, allowing tumors to grow extremely quickly.
The HNF4A gene is crucial to human health, helping many organs in the body function properly. But researchers discovered that pancreatic cancer can stealthily disable the gene’s benefits.
Hatziapostolou said: “Loss of HNF4A drives the development and aggressiveness of pancreatic cancer and we now know that this is associated with poor patient survival.”
Scientists from the University of Nottingham, Stanford University, the University of California and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles were also involved in the project.
Dr Chris Macdonald, head of research at Pancreatic Cancer UK, which funded the study, said: “We urgently need kinder and more effective treatment options for pancreatic cancer. Most pancreatic cancers are diagnosed at a late stage, with 80% only discovered after the disease has spread and is no longer operable.
“This is reflected in the poor survival rate, with more than half of people with the disease dying within three months of diagnosis. Improving our fundamental understanding of what causes pancreatic cancer to grow and spread so quickly is vital if we are to make much-needed breakthroughs.
“This project gives us new information about how pancreatic cancer can suppress certain molecules to spread aggressively through the body, which in turn could lead to the development of more effective treatment options in the future.”