THIS STORY ORIGINALLY appeared on WIRED Italy and was translated from Italian.
Pancreatic cancer turns off one of our most critical genes so it can grow and spread, new research According to research published in the journal Gastro Hep Advances.
Cancer is one of the most aggressive human diseases. It is the 12th most common cancer in the world, with more than half a million novel diagnoses each year, yet it is often detected only at an advanced stage, when treatment options are circumscribed. As a result, it has one of the worst survival rates, with more than half of patients dying within three months of diagnosis.
“Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate among the 20 most common cancers. Patient survival five years after diagnosis has improved very little,” said Maria Hatziapostolou, a researcher at the John van Geest Cancer Research Centre at Nottingham Trent University and co-author of the study. Guardian“It is crucial to find new ways to better understand this disease, how it spreads and why it is so aggressive.”
In the study, the researchers looked at samples of tumors and fit tissue. In their analysis, they found that pancreatic cancer triggers a process known as DNA methylation, in which molecules attach to DNA and change the way the body reads it. In this case, DNA methylation deactivates HNF4A, a gene that helps promote the proper functioning of many organs. When the gene is turned off, cancer cells can spread very quickly. “Loss of HNF4A drives the development and aggressiveness of pancreatic cancer, and we now know that it is associated with poor patient survival.” Hatziapostolou explained in a press release on Monday.
“We desperately need less invasive and more effective treatment options for pancreatic cancer,” said Chris Macdonald, director of Pancreatic Cancer UK, in the same press release. Eighty percent of pancreatic cancers are detected only after the disease has spread and cannot be treated surgically, he added. “This study provides new information about how pancreatic cancer can inhibit the aggressive spread of certain molecules in the body, which in turn could lead to more effective treatment options,” he added.