Study Links Pancreatic Cancer Aggressive Spread with Gene Silencing 

Study Links Pancreatic Cancer Aggressive Spread with Gene Silencing. Credit | Getty Images
Study Links Pancreatic Cancer Aggressive Spread with Gene Silencing. Credit | Getty Images

United States: According to new research, it is found that Pancreatic cancer shuts off one of the major genes in our body to be able to grow itself. 

More about the finding 

As per the experts, this cancer is seen as one of the most lethal human diseases. It has become the top twelve most common disease in the world, along with the new diagnosis of more than half a million each year. 

The major pitfall in this disease is that it is commonly detected in the later stages when the treatment becomes hardly feasible. 

Therefore, the survival rate is the worst in the world, where more than half of the patients die within three months of diagnosis

According to Maria Hatziapostolou, a researcher at the John van Geest Cancer Research Center at Nottingham Trent University and co-author of the study, “Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival among the 20 most common cancers. Patient survival at five years after diagnosis has improved very little,” as the Guardian reported. 

She added, “It is extremely important to find new ways to better understand this disease, how it spreads, and why it is so aggressive.” 

How was the study conducted? 

For the purpose of the study, the scientists looked into tumor and healthy tissue samples. In this process, they found that pancreatic cancer generates a process called DNA methylation. 

In the process, molecules start attaching themselves to the DNA and hence change how the body reads it. 

Study Links Pancreatic Cancer Aggressive Spread with Gene Silencing. Credit | PA
Study Links Pancreatic Cancer Aggressive Spread with Gene Silencing. Credit | PA

Furthermore, DNA methylation deactivates HNF4A, which is a gene that helps to promote the proper function of many organs, as wired.com reported. 

Hatziapostolou further explained that when the gene’s activity is stopped, cancer cells get the push to have it spread at a faster pace. 

Hatziapostolou said, “Loss of HNF4A drives the development and aggressiveness of pancreatic cancer, and we now know that it is related to poor patient survival,” as wired.com reported. 

Moreover, Chris Macdonald, director of Pancreatic Cancer UK, said, “We desperately need less invasive and more effective treatment options for pancreatic cancer.” 

He added, “This study gives us new information about how pancreatic cancer is able to suppress certain molecules to spread aggressively in the body, which, in turn, could lead to the development of more effective treatment options.”