In a mice study, researchers were able to identify a weakness in pancreatic cancer cells that could lead to new treatments in humans to improve survivability. Image source: Libreshot
A study by the Queen Mary University of London, has identified cells in mice that lead pancreatic cancer to spread and discovered a weakness in these cancer cells that may be targeted with existing drugs.
The study, published in Science Advances, discovered that pancreatic cancer contains amoeboid cells — invasive and aggressive cells that can quickly spread and weaken the immune system.
Amoeboid cells have previously been identified in other cancers, including breast, liver, melanoma and prostate cancer, and linked with poor survival rates.
The amoeboid cells produce high levels of the CD73 molecule, which is a major factor in the cells’ ability to spread and weaken the immune system.
The researchers were able to reduce the spread of cancer to the liver and lower the number of immune cells supporting the tumor by blocking the molecule in the mice subjects.
In long-term anti-CD73 treatments, the occurrence of the pancreatic cancer spreading to the liver was almost halved, dropping from 66.6 per cent to 33.4 per cent.
The Professor of Cancer Cell Biology at Queen Mary University of London, Victoria Sanz-Moreno, said “While the results would need to be replicated in humans, they are very promising in highlighting a potential way of treating the spread of one of the most aggressive and poorly survived cancers.”
While testing is still needed to confirm if the results translate to humans, this is still welcome news as drugs that block CD73 have already been developed and are currently undergoing clinical trials for other types of cancer.
Professor Sanz-Moreno noted that “finding a way to improve its extremely low survival rate even by a little could save many years of human life.
“Pancreatic cancer remains one of the deadliest cancers and current treatments are not working well. To improve these, we urgently need to understand the disease better.”
The researchers currently plan to extend their research and determine if the same link regarding amoeboid cells and CD73 exists in other cancer types, with a key focus on breast cancer.
