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.

Cannabis compounds may improve metabolism and reduce diabetes risk

A University of California, Riverside preclinical study is shedding light on a long-observed but poorly understood phenomenon: chronic cannabis users tend to have lower body weight and a reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes, despite the drug's well-known tendency to increase appetite.

11 May 2026

Diabetes, weight-loss drugs not a perfect fit?

Type 2 diabetes affects millions of people worldwide and now a new international study, jointly led by Adelaide University, University of Oxford, ETH Zurich, and Stanford University, has found one in ten people may not be benefiting from common medications used to treat the condition.

11 May 2026

Liver fat may disrupt post-meal glucagon control in early type 2 diabetes

Researchers found that MASLD, rather than type 2 diabetes alone, was linked to higher fasting glucagon levels in adults with newly diagnosed diabetes and matched controls. In people with early type 2 diabetes, higher liver fat was specifically associated with exaggerated early post-meal glucagon responses, independent of insulin sensitivity, visceral fat, amino acids, or NEFAs.

10 May 2026

New AI model spots hidden pancreatic cancer long before diagnosis

Mayo Clinic's AI model identifies invisible signs of pancreatic cancer on routine CT scans, potentially transforming early detection and survival rates.

7 May 2026

Kyoto University identifies a key regulator of insulin production

A hallmark of Type 2 diabetes is the progressive loss of beta cell mass: cells in the pancreas that produce and release insulin. The endoplasmic reticulum stress response, a cellular pathway that maintains protein homeostasis, plays a critical role in beta cell function and survival, and the protein ATF6α is one of the key regulators of this stress response.

7 May 2026

Study reveals epigenetic adaptation of beta cells across lifespan and disease

As people age, most maintain normal blood sugar even as insulin resistance tends to rise. New research suggests that pancreatic beta cells help meet this demand through gradual epigenetic changes in regulatory regions of the genome that support beta-cell identity and function.

5 May 2026

AI-driven model predicts type 1 diabetes risk with greater accuracy

Researchers use machine learning and genetic analysis to uncover type 1 diabetes risk factors, improving prediction accuracy and identifying patient subtypes.

5 May 2026

New technique uses electronic jolt and nanoparticles to reveal early signs of pancreatic cancer

Scientists at Oregon Health & Science University have developed a new technique using an electronic jolt and nanoparticles to reveal the telltale signal of an insidious form of cancer.

4 May 2026

Study debunks steroid myths, framing creatine as an essential energy-providing molecule

Creatine, a compound often associated with gym-goers and athletes, has long been touted as a performance-enhancing supplement. But beyond the hype, what does science actually reveal about its effects on the body and mind?

4 May 2026

T1GRS model enhances prediction of genetic risk for Type 1 diabetes

In people with Type 1 diabetes (T1D), the immune system shuts down the body's ability to make the hormone insulin, responsible for regulating blood sugar and providing cells with glucose to produce energy.

30 Apr 2026

Task switching between organ types increases patient mortality rates

When transplant surgeons switched between different organ types in consecutive surgeries, one-year mortality rates in patients increased by 14.8 percent, according to new Virginia Tech research.

30 Apr 2026

AI model detects pancreatic cancer years before clinical diagnosis

An AI model (REDMOD) can pick up the very early subtle tissue changes of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, the most common form of pancreatic cancer, which conventional imaging and the human eye find difficult to detect, finds research published online in the journal Gut.

28 Apr 2026

Rising bowel and ovarian cancer rates in younger adults raise new concerns

Cases of several cancers are rising in England among both younger and older adults, but rates of bowel and ovarian cancer are rising only among younger adults (under 50s), finds research published in the open access journal BMJ Oncology.

28 Apr 2026

Study identifies epigenetic patterns affecting insulin and glucagon production in type 2 diabetes

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have carried out the most detailed mapping to date of the epigenome in the cells that regulate the body's blood sugar levels.

24 Apr 2026

Vitamin D may prevent diabetes in people with certain genes

More than two in five U.S. adults has prediabetes, a condition marked by higher-than-normal blood sugar levels that often leads to type 2 diabetes.

23 Apr 2026

Common gene in axolotls, mice and zebrafish may unlock human limb regrowth

Investigating a common gene in three very different species – axolotls, mice and zebrafish – scientists have discovered the potential for a novel gene therapy aimed at eventually regrowing limbs in humans, according to new research published this week.

21 Apr 2026

High-fat, low-carbohydrate diet may improve beta-cell function in patients with type 2 diabetes

People with type 2 diabetes on a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet may have a better chance of reversing their diabetes than those on a low-fat diet, according to a small study published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society.

21 Apr 2026

Obesity, GLP-1s, and metabolic care

An interview with Professor Thomas Forst, Chief Medical Officer, hVIVO

From hVIVO 17 Apr 2026

Genetic variants may reduce effectiveness of popular diabetes drugs

More than a quarter of people with Type 2 diabetes take GLP-1 receptor agonists, but the popular diabetes drugs might not work as well for people who have certain genetic variants, according to a new study by Stanford Medicine scientists and their collaborators.

12 Apr 2026