Scientists have shown it is possible to reverse a key process that allows pancreatic cancer cells to grow and spread around the body.

These findings, published in Nature,show that a protein called GREM1 is key to regulating the type of cells found in pancreatic cancer — and manipulating its levels can both fuel and reverse the ability of these cells to change into a more aggressive subtype.

The researchers believe this fundamental discovery could ultimately pave the way for new pancreatic cancer treatments.

Researchers from The Institute of Cancer Research, London, studied pancreatic cancer with the gene that makes the GREM1 protein switched off in mice, and in pancreatic ‘mini-tumours’, which are also known as organoids.

Switching off GREM1 caused the tumour cells to rapidly change shape and develop new properties that help them invade new tissues and migrate around the body. Within just 10 days, all the tumour cells changed their identity into a dangerous, invasive cell type.

Switching off the gene also made tumours in mice more likely to spread. The researchers studied a mouse model of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) — the most common and aggressive form of the disease. Around 90 per cent of mice without functioning GREM1 developed tumours which had spread to their liver, compared to 15 per cent of mice where GREM1 was working normally.

Source: Read Full Article