U-M researchers ID gene involved in pancreatic cancerMarch 03, 2009ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Researchers from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified a gene that is overexpressed in 90 percent of pancreatic cancers, the most deadly type of cancer. Expression of the gene, Ataxia Telangiectasia Group D Complementing gene, called ATDC, is on average 20 times higher in pancreatic cancer cells than in cells from a normal pancreas. What's more, the gene appears to make pancreatic cancer cells resistant to current therapies. "One of the challenges in pancreatic cancer is that it is biologically aggressive and it does not respond well to chemotherapy or radiation. We found that ATDC not only causes the cancer cells to grow faster and be more aggressive, but it also makes the cancer cells particularly resistant to chemotherapy and radiation. By targeting this gene, we may be able to make cancer cells more sensitive to the therapies we already have in hand," says senior study author Diane Simeone, M.D., director of the Multidisciplinary Pancreatic Cancer Clinic at the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center. Results of the study appear in the March issue of Cancer Cell. The researchers injected into mice tumor cells expressing ATDC and compared that to a separate group of mice injected with tumor cells in which ATDC was suppressed. In the ATDC-expressing group, tumors grew in all the samples and were significantly larger and starting to metastasize, or spread. In the group in which ATDC was not expressed, only minimal signs of tumor growth were seen after 60 days. "This particular gene promotes the biologic aggressiveness of the cancer," says Simeone, who is also Lazar J. Greenfield Professor of Surgery and Molecular & Integrative Physiology at the U-M Medical School. In addition, the researchers found that ATDC is most highly expressed at the point when pre-cancerous cells become malignant. ATDC was also linked to increased levels of a signaling protein called beta-catenin, which is known to play a key role in cancer development. Researchers believe ATDC has potential as a target for developing future therapies. It could also help doctors determine when a patient has pancreatic cancer and when it's chronic pancreatitis, a diagnosis that's often difficult to make without surgery. In some cases, this may allow patients to avoid an operation. ATDC also appears to be involved in other cancer types, including bladder cancer and lung cancer. Researchers are continuing to investigate its role. This research was done in the laboratory. No tests or therapies related to ATDC are available at this time. Pancreatic cancer statistics: 37,680 Americans will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year and 34,290 will die from the disease, according to the American Cancer Society Additional authors: Lidong Wang, David G. Heidt, Cheong J. Lee, Huibin Yang, Eric R. Fearon and Mats Ljungman from U-M; Craig D. Logsdon from M.D. Anderson Cancer Center; and Lizhi Zhang from the Mayo Clinic. University of Michigan Health System |
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| Related Pancreatic Cancer Current Events and Pancreatic Cancer News Articles Rare pancreatic cancer patients may live longer when treated with radiation therapy Radiation therapy is effective in achieving local control and palliation in patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNTs), despite such tumors being commonly considered resistant to radiation therapy. African-Americans with colorectal cancer have poorer outcomes, lower survival rates New research published in the November issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that African-American patients with colorectal cancer are more likely to be diagnosed with advanced disease and are less likely to undergo surgical procedures compared with Caucasians, suggesting that improvements in screening and rates of operation may reduce differences in colorectal cancer outcomes for African-Americans. Discovery offers potential new pancreatic cancer treatment Tiny particles that can carry drugs and target cancer cells may offer treatment hope for those suffering with pancreatic cancer. New research to be presented in November at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Annual Meeting in Los Angeles reveals that tumor-penetrating microparticles (TPM) have been specifically designed to break through hard-to-infiltrate barriers and deliver drugs more effectively and efficiently than the standard form of chemotherapy such as those injected through a vein. Hepatitis B does not increase risk for pancreatic cancer A Henry Ford Hospital study found that hepatitis B does not increase the risk for pancreatic cancer - and that only age is a contributing factor. M. D. Anderson examines use of toad venom in cancer treatment Huachansu, a Chinese medicine that comes from the dried venom secreted by the skin glands of toads, has tolerable toxicity levels, even at doses eight times those normally administered, and may slow disease progression in some cancer patients, say researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. Pancreatic cancer: Researchers find drug that reverses resistance to chemotherapy For the first time researchers have shown that by inhibiting the action of an enzyme called TAK-1, it is possible to make pancreatic cancer cells sensitive to chemotherapy, opening the way for the development of a new drug to treat the disease. Endothelin-1 inhibitors in chronic pancreatitis Fibrosis is a key feature of chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. The extensive deposition of extracellular matrix proteins fosters the development of an exocrine and endocrine organ insufficiency, and accelerates progression of the tumour. Autoimmune response can induce pancreatic tumor rejection Immune responses are capable of killing tumors before they can be directed toward normal body tissue, according to new scientific findings published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. MicroRNAs circulating in blood show promise as biomarkers to detect pancreatic cancer A blood test for small molecules abnormally expressed in pancreatic cancer may be a promising route to early detection of the disease. Blood-flow metabolism mismatch predicts pancreatic tumor aggressiveness Researchers from Turku, Finland, have identified a blood-flow glucose consumption mismatch that predicted pancreatic tumor aggressiveness, according to results of a study published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. More Pancreatic Cancer Current Events and Pancreatic Cancer News Articles |
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