Pancreatic Cancer News and Research

RSS

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of all cancer deaths in the United States and the third leading cause of cancer deaths in individuals ages 40 to 60. Approximately 37,000 Americans are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year, and, each year, approximately the same number die from it. Often, pancreatic cancer is found too late for surgical intervention, and chemotherapy and radiation treatments have little effect.

GUMC researchers describe lab technique to fill gaps in clinical care and research

Researchers who developed and tested a revolutionary laboratory technique that allows for the endless growth of normal and diseased cells in a laboratory are publicly sharing how the technique works.

28 Jan 2017

Cancer cells proliferate by stealing energy from neighbouring cells, study finds

Researchers at the University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital have discovered that cancer cells grow by stealing energy from neighbouring cells.

26 Jan 2017

BRCA1 gene required for survival of blood forming stem cells, UT Southwestern study finds

Researchers at from the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center have found that the BRCA1 gene is required for the survival of blood forming stem cells, which could explain why patients with BRCA1 mutations do not have an elevated risk for leukemia.

25 Jan 2017

Researchers discover mutation hotspots that act like backseat drivers for breast cancer development

Researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute have discovered 'hotspots' of mutations in breast cancer genomes, where mutations thought to be inactive 'passengers' in the genome have now been shown to possibly drive further cancerous changes.

23 Jan 2017

Salk scientists show how microenvironment signals encourage growth of pancreatic tumors

Just as an invasive weed might need nutrient-rich soil and water to grow, many cancers rely on the right surroundings in the body to thrive.

20 Jan 2017

‘Collateral lethality’ may create new therapeutic options for several cancers

Cancer cells often delete genes that normally suppress tumor formation. These deletions also may extend to neighboring genes, an event known as "collateral lethality," which may create new options for development of therapies for several cancers.

19 Jan 2017

Protein involved in pancreatic cancer development plays more complicated role, study finds

A protein thought to fuel pancreatic cancer development plays a much more complicated role, a new study finds.

18 Jan 2017

Epigenetic changes drive successful metastases of pancreatic cancer cells

A multicenter team of researchers reports that a full genomic analysis of tumor samples from a small number of people who died of pancreatic cancer suggests that chemical changes to DNA that do not affect the DNA sequence itself yet control how it operates confer survival advantages on subsets of pancreatic cancer cells.

17 Jan 2017

Researchers explore how metastatic pancreatic cancer gets ‘reprogrammed’ for optimal malignancy

Metastatic pancreatic cancer -- cancer that has spread from the pancreas to other tissues and is responsible for most patient deaths -- changes its metabolism and is "reprogrammed" for optimal malignancy, according to new findings reported Jan. 16 in Nature Genetics.

16 Jan 2017

Study reveals importance of glutamine metabolism for colon cancer

The importance of glutamine was made clear as a colon cancer specific metabolism. It is known that glutamine metabolism is important for pancreatic cancer, but the importance of glutamine metabolism for colon cancer has been unclear.

10 Jan 2017

UI scientists reveal how high-dose vitamin C damages cancer cells

Vitamin C has a patchy history as a cancer therapy, but researchers at the University of Iowa believe that is because it has often been used in a way that guarantees failure.

9 Jan 2017

Regular aspirin use lowers pancreatic cancer risk by 50%, new study finds

The regular use of aspirin lowers the risk for pancreatic cancer by almost 50 percent, a new study in China led by the Yale School of Public Health finds.

6 Jan 2017

Regular use of aspirin could cut pancreatic cancer risk in half

Regular use of aspirin by people living in Shanghai, China, was associated with decreased risk for developing pancreatic cancer, according to data published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

20 Dec 2016

Novel genomics model allows personalized approach to radiation therapy

Cancer therapeutics is currently in the era of precision medicine - personalized medicine for individual patients based on their tumor biology.

20 Dec 2016

Presence of tumor DNA in blood linked to poor outcomes in pancreatic cancer patients

The presence of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) isolated from blood samples of patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma was associated with poor outcomes.

19 Dec 2016

Johns Hopkins scientists create bioinformatics tool to evaluate cancer driver gene prediction methods

In their search for new ways to treat cancer, many scientists are using a high-tech process called genome sequencing to hunt for genetic mutations that encourage tumor cells to thrive.

17 Dec 2016

Calcium channel blockers may be effective drugs against cancer metastasis

Researchers at the University of Turku, Finland have identified a new way of blocking the spread of cancer. Calcium channel blockers, which are used to lower blood pressure, block breast and pancreatic cancer invasion by inhibiting cellular structures.

16 Dec 2016

Anti-platelet drug may slow spread of colon and pancreatic cancer cells

Researchers from Oregon Health and Science University have found that aspirin may slow the spread of some types of colon and pancreatic cancer cells. The paper is published in the American Journal of Physiology—Cell Physiology.

15 Dec 2016

Low-dose chemotherapy regimens may be more effective at treating certain breast and pancreatic cancer types

Conventional, high-dose chemotherapy treatments can cause the fibroblast cells surrounding tumors to secrete proteins that promote the tumors' recurrence in more aggressive forms, researchers at Taipei Medical University and the National Institute of Cancer Research in Taiwan and University of California, San Francisco, have discovered.

24 Nov 2016

Study uncovers mechanism that causes chemo resistance of pancreatic cancer cells

A pioneering University of Liverpool research team have published a study that identifies the mechanism in the human body that causes resistance of pancreatic cancer cells to chemotherapy.

21 Nov 2016