Pancreatic cancer is finally being eradicated by science. This Wednesday saw the announcement by two different research groups: one American and one British. They each announced that they had discovered the key to understanding the metastases in the disease. It is the most fatal of all oncological pathologies. One in ten people will survive five years after being diagnosed. According to various publications, the tumor spreads when a molecule is damaged, which in America is an enzyme, and for Europeans is a protein.
Both groups may be describing similar phenomena. These discoveries are the second or third major breakthroughs in the fight against pancreatic cancers. The National Cancer Research Center (CNIO), announced just fifteen days ago the creation of a complete list of biological markers that will enable timely diagnosis and selection of the best therapy. In collaboration with the Cambridge Institute, the United Kingdom, the group was able to analyze nearly 7,880 samples from 33 types of cancer and create a powerful diagnostic tool that can be used to diagnose patients with lung, ovary, and pancreatic tumors.
There is more. Researchers from California and Columbia University discovered an enzyme called MSRA that is crucial in the development and birth of pancreatic carcinoma. They claim that this molecule has the ability “erase” the oxidative damage to the organ caused by natural aging or poor lifestyle choices. It is essential to have MSRA. Without it, a cancer cell protein can become out of control and begin to produce energy at a rapid rate. They graphically depict, “it sows new cancers in the whole body.”
Researchers came to this conclusion after lowering levels of the “eraser enzyme” in both live and laboratory-grown rodent and human cells. The result of this experiment was to reduce the amount of the ‘eraser enzyme’ in both live mice and rodent cells. This also led to the migration of cancer cells throughout the body or, more commonly, the appearance metastases. Scientists will now investigate whether this enzyme is also active in other types of cancers. Or if it is limited to the death of Luciano Pavarotti (tenor), Henry Mancini (musician), John Hurt (actor) and Steve Jobs (computer magnate).
A British research group announces today in Nature that they have identified a protein that converts pancreatic cancer cells to a more aggressive form. They call it GREM1 and say that the discovery is essential to allow for new treatment options. They also assure that science is still in its initial stages. It will take a lot of research to find and develop treatments that can change the fate pancreatic ductal carcinoma (PDAC) cells. This is the most aggressive and common form of the disease.
This story has a surprising fact. These advances in pancreatic cancer were made possible by a Basque biopharmaceutical company Oncomatryx. It announced last May that it had applied for authorization to use the Spanish Agency and American Medicines Agency (FDA) to test the treatment with patients. This is the first oncological treatment against the disease. This new treatment is being tested in humans with patients from Spain and the US for the first time. It is believed to be the first of many drugs that fight solid metastatic cancers.
If science is on track, they will be here in approximately ten years. This is good news but still fundamental science. One thing is the laboratory results and another is patient care,” Andres Munoz (a Spanish Society of Medical Oncology spokesperson), has assessed the newspaper’s findings. He is a specialist in pancreas at the Gregorio Maranon Hospital in Madrid. This expert is also very optimistic about the recent discoveries made against this disease. It will be difficult. He considered that it is a complex pathology with little information and that quickly metastasizes.
Separately, two research groups from the UK and the US claim to have discovered the key to the spread of the cancer and placed it in different molecules.
