Pancreas News and Research

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The pancreas is a gland organ in the digestive and endocrine system of vertebrates. It is both an endocrine gland producing several important hormones, including insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin, as well as an exocrine gland, secreting pancreatic juice containing digestive enzymes that pass to the small intestine. These enzymes help in the further breakdown of the carbohydrates, protein, and fat in the chyme.

Brain memory signals may influence blood sugar levels, rat study finds

A set of brain signals known to help memories form may also influence blood sugar levels, finds a new study in rats.

11 Aug 2021

New immunotherapy strategy can eliminate pancreatic tumors in mice

Pancreatic cancer, which affects about 60,000 Americans every year, is one of the deadliest forms of cancer. After diagnosis, fewer than 10 percent of patients survive for five years.

6 Aug 2021

Artificial pancreas may soon help patients with type 2 diabetes

An artificial pancreas could soon help people living with type 2 diabetes and who also require kidney dialysis. Tests led by the University of Cambridge and Inselspital, University Hospital of Bern, Switzerland, show that the device can help patients safely and effectively manage their blood sugar levels and reduce the risk of low blood sugar levels.

4 Aug 2021

Common weight-loss drug successfully targets fat in adults with obesity at high cardiovascular risk

Researchers at UT Southwestern announced successful results of a clinical trial for a commonly prescribed weight-loss drug called liraglutide.

4 Aug 2021

Diabetes drug’s new weight loss formula fuels cost-benefit debate

The long list of side effects that follow ads for the newer expensive drugs to treat Type 2 diabetes sometimes include an unusual warning: They might cause weight loss. That side effect is one that many people — especially those with Type 2 diabetes, which is associated with obesity — may desperately want.

30 Jul 2021

First interchangeable biosimilar insulin product approved by FDA for treatment of diabetes

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first interchangeable biosimilar insulin product, indicated to improve glycemic control in adults and pediatric patients with Type 1 diabetes mellitus and in adults with Type 2 diabetes mellitus.

28 Jul 2021

Two types of blood pressure drugs provide equal benefits, but side effects differ

People who are just beginning treatment for high blood pressure can benefit equally from two different classes of medicine - angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) - yet ARBs may be less likely to cause medication side effects, according to an analysis of real-world data published today in Hypertension, an American Heart Association journal.

26 Jul 2021

Largest genetic study identifies new drug targets to treat type 1 diabetes

Scientists have completed the largest and most diverse genetic study of type 1 diabetes ever undertaken, identifying new drug targets to treat a condition that affects 1.3 million American adults.

22 Jul 2021

Virginia Tech graduate student receives NSF grant to examine new treatments for pancreatic cancer

Jessica Gannon, a recent graduate in mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech, will continue her education and research as a doctoral student in biomedical engineering through Virginia Tech - Wake Forest University's School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences.

19 Jul 2021

Tissue-specific genetic interactions drive different types of cancer development

Why do alterations of certain genes cause cancer only in specific organs of the human body? Scientists at the German Cancer Consortium, the Technical University of Munich, and the University Medical Center Göttingen have now demonstrated that cells originating from different organs are differentially susceptible to activating mutations in cancer drivers: The same mutation in precursor cells of the pancreas or the bile duct leads to fundamental different outcomes.

19 Jul 2021

WVU researcher-led effort ensures accuracy of data that dictates cancer patient's radiation therapy

Just as helicopter traffic reporters use their "bird's eye view" to route drivers around roadblocks safely, radiation oncologists treating a variety of cancers can use new guidelines developed by a West Virginia University researcher to reduce mistakes in data transfer and more safely treat their patients.

13 Jul 2021

Stimulating immune cells to form special structures can potentiate pancreatic cancer chemotherapy

A new study from Queen Mary University of London has demonstrated that immune cells can be stimulated to assemble into special structures within pancreatic cancer such that, at least in a pre-clinical model, researchers can demonstrate an improvement in the efficacy of chemotherapy.

9 Jul 2021

Loss of PTHrP hormone can prevent metastases, improve survival in mice with pancreatic cancer

Lowering levels of a hormone called PTHrP can prevent metastases and improve survival in mice with pancreatic cancer and could lead to a new way to treat patients, according to a study from cancer researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center and with collaborators at the University of Pennsylvania.

1 Jul 2021

Scientists outline new target for treating type 2 diabetes

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the discovery of insulin, a scientific breakthrough that transformed Type 1 diabetes, once known as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes, from a terminal disease into a manageable condition.

30 Jun 2021

New positive data on BCG’s ability to safely and significantly lower blood sugars

At the recent 2021 Annual Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) presented positive updates on their trials of the bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine to safely and significantly lower blood sugars.

25 Jun 2021

Researchers discover a new mechanism controlling satiation

Researchers from the Turku PET Centre and Technical University of Munich have discovered a new mechanism controlling satiation. According to the recently published study, the hormone secretin induces satiation by activating brown adipose tissue.

22 Jun 2021

Study shows how epigenetic factors modulate the risk of type 1 diabetes

Genetics plays a major role in determining a person’s risk of developing type 1 diabetes, but environmental and lifestyle factors are also important. In an article recently published in Chinese Medical Journal, a team of researchers explore the interplay of genetic and environmental factors by summarizing the literature on type 1 diabetes and epigenetics—the study of how gene expression patterns can be modified.

18 Jun 2021

Study uncovers novel drug that effectively thwarts pancreatic tumors

Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive disease in which malignant cells form in the tissues of the pancreas, a long and flat gland located behind the stomach that helps with digestion and blood sugar regulation.

14 Jun 2021

Scientists develop new method for single-cell lineage tracing of metastatic cancer

It's often cancer's spread, not the original tumor, that poses the disease's most deadly risk.

10 Jun 2021

New digital tool makes the analysis of microscopy images much easier

Information technology can make life easier in many areas - including research. In medicine, for example, it is still standard practice to evaluate microscopy images of tissue sections by hand. This is used, for example, to assess how many cancer cells are in a lymph node.

9 Jun 2021