Tag: pancreatic

Pancreatic cancer: Etiology and early detection

Pancreatic cancer forms in the cells of the pancreas, an organ in the abdomen that releases enzymes that aid digestion and produces hormones that help manage our blood sugar levels. Pancreatic cancer is a rare disease with poor survival—it causes some 466,000 deaths internationally per year. The number of cases is increasing and the prognosis

Pancreatic cancer trials are no more diverse now than over a decade ago

According to a study published today in Gastroenterology by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center and University of Florida Health, Black, Hispanic, Indigenous and Asian Americans remain conspicuously absent from pancreatic cancer clinical trials aimed at testing the most recent treatment advances for this deadly disease.  Not only does this lack of diversity

Nerves keep pancreatic cancer cells from starving

Pancreatic cancer cells avert starvation by signaling to nerves, which grow into dense tumors and secrete nutrients. This is the finding of a study with experiments in cancer cells, mice, and human tissue samples published online November 2 in Cell. The study addresses pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the deadliest cancer of the pancreas with a

Researchers improve classification of pancreatic cancer to better predict patient outcomes

Researchers at the University of Toronto and University Health Network have found that standard pathology grading for the most common type of pancreatic cancer can be improved to better predict patient outcomes. The research shows that conventional, histological analysis of pancreatic tumours—based in part on morphology, or shape and structure—can better predict outcomes by taking

Super-enhancers: novel target for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Differential H3K27AC marks were identified at enhancer regions of genes including c-MYC, MED1, OCT-4, NANOG, and SOX2 that can act as super-enhancers (SE), cluster of genes in non-cancerous, cancerous and metastatic PDAC cell lines. GZ17-6.02 affects acetylation of the genes, reduces transcription of major transcription factors, sonic hedgehog pathway proteins, and stem cell markers. Dr.

Major pancreatic cancer breakthrough

Clinical trial results presented today at a prestigious cancer meeting in Chicago show substantial increased survival rates for pancreatic cancer patients who received a four-drug chemotherapy combination known as mFOLFIRINOX after surgery. Pancreatic cancer is typically very aggressive, with only approximately eight per cent of people surviving beyond five years after diagnosis, even after surgery

Molecular ‘rabble-rouser’ fuels pancreatic cancer growth

A type of molecular ‘rabble-rouser’ that triggers pancreatic cancer to become aggressive and spread around the body has been identified by scientists. The team behind the early-stage research, led by Imperial College London and funded by Pancreatic Cancer UK, say the findings may open avenues for treatments that target these molecules. The molecules, called microRNAs,