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.

Developing a highly predictive genetic risk score for type 1 diabetes

Paul Tran is working to develop a highly predictive genetic risk score that will tell parents whether their baby is at significant risk for type 1 diabetes.

16 Sep 2019

Cancer disease incidence and severity influenced by gene mutation, tissue location

The KRAS gene is one of the commonly mutated genes in cancer. More than 40 percent of colorectal cancers have a mutated KRAS gene, or oncogene, that is at least partially responsible for cancer development.

12 Sep 2019

New study supports link between enteroviral infections and type 1 diabetes

Enteroviral infections are common viral infections with usually rather few symptoms, and they are also believed to be linked to the onset of type 1 diabetes.

10 Sep 2019

UAB researchers identify biomarker for early beta cell death in Type 1 diabetes

Beta cells in the pancreas produce insulin. Their death is a key feature of Type 1 diabetes, and that loss starts long before diagnosis. However, there has been no straightforward way to measure that early loss.

8 Sep 2019

ASTRO guideline provides recommendations on use of radiation therapy to treat pancreatic cancer

A new clinical guideline from the American Society for Radiation Oncology provides recommendations on the use of radiation therapy to treat patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, including when radiation treatments are appropriate, as well as the optimal dosing, timing and fractionation for these treatments.

4 Sep 2019

Younger people getting cancer due to obesity

Obesity rates around the globe are ballooning - literally! Approximately 1.9 billion adults who are 18 years and older were overweight in 2016, and of these, more than 650 million were obese. The number of obese people has nearly tripled since 1975.

4 Sep 2019

Discovery may help identify signs of type 1 diabetes earlier

A new study showed that there are significant differences in the MHC class II antigens on the insulin peptide that is deficient in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). These determine the response of the T cells to the insulin peptide that causes destruction of insulin.

2 Sep 2019

FDA recommends health care facilities to transition away from fixed endcap duodenoscope models

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is recommending that duodenoscope manufacturers and health care facilities transition to different types of duodenoscopes that may pose less risk to patient safety.

31 Aug 2019

New discovery may help identify type 1 diabetes earlier than is currently possible

Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease that typically emerges before the age of 20, wipes out the body's ability to produce insulin--a hormone that's essential to life. Diagnosis often comes after symptoms arise, at which point the disease has taken hold.

30 Aug 2019

The gift of longevity for a pancreatic cancer patient

While weeding in her north Seattle garden, Miggie Olsson discusses how she, as a patient, became a unicorn.

30 Aug 2019

Nerve cells aid in the spread of pancreatic cancer, study reveals

A couple of molecules that nerve cells use to grow during development could help explain why the most common pancreatic cancers are so difficult to contain and for patients to survive, a new study led by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers suggests.

30 Aug 2019

Islet-on-a-Chip to study the fundamental biology of diabetes

By combining two powerful technologies, scientists are taking diabetes research to a whole new level. In a study led by Harvard University's Kevin Kit Parker, microfluidics and human, insulin-producing beta cells have been integrated in an "Islet-on-a-Chip".

29 Aug 2019

'MasSpec Pen' could help distinguish between cancerous and healthy tissue during surgery

A major challenge for cancer surgeons is to determine exactly where a tumor starts and where it ends. Removing too much tissue can impair normal functions, but not taking enough can mean the disease could recur.

28 Aug 2019

Retina-on-a-chip may provide useful alternative to existing models for studying eye disease

The development of a retina-on-a-chip, which combines living human cells with an artificial tissue-like system, has been described today in the open-access journal eLife.

27 Aug 2019

Diabetes in college students linked to depression and distress

Diabetes mellitus affects about 10% of the population, and predisposes the affected individual to a host of complications. Thus these patients need to follow a regulated lifestyle, including regular exercise, a low-sugar diet, regular and appropriate use of diabetes medication, self-testing for glucose levels and adjusting medication if used, and scheduled or necessary follow-up with a healthcare provider.

27 Aug 2019

Blood sugar levels linked to DNA damage and cancer in diabetics

Increased blood sugar levels in diabetics could damage DNA and make the genome unstable, increasing the risk of certain cancers.

26 Aug 2019

Enzyme induced by stress associated with liver cancer growth

An enzyme induced by stress to help reduce production of damaging free radicals is also used by liver cancer to regulate two major cell proliferation pathways that enable the cancer to thrive, scientists report.

22 Aug 2019

UC San Diego researchers identify new therapeutic approach to kill cancer cells

Epithelial cancers, such as cancers of the lung and pancreas, use the ανβ3 molecule to gain drug resistance to standard cancer therapies and to become highly metastatic.

22 Aug 2019

New cannabis-based drug shows promise for pancreatic cancer

Cancer of the pancreas is a particularly deadly cancer, claiming over 90% of its victims within 5 years from diagnosis. It resists most standard therapies, including surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy and targeted therapy, and metastasizes early, often before being diagnosed. A cure is possible only with very localized tumors.

22 Aug 2019

Improvement of PTSD symptoms linked to reduced type 2 diabetes risk

Traumatic experiences may affect a person in different ways. In some, these traumatic events may not pose a negative impact, but for others, they develop a mental health condition often triggered by a terrifying event – post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

22 Aug 2019