Breakthrough in Pancreatic Cancer

You don’t generally hear much about pancreatic cancer, probably because it isn’t as common as breast, lung or prostate cancers, but perhaps also because there hasn’t been an improvement in the survival rate, the lowest of all major cancers, in nearly two decades. That might be about to change, thanks to the intense focus on stem cell research in recent years. In a report in the Feb. 1 (2006) issue of Cancer Research, investigators described finding strong evidence that pancreatic cancer is controlled by a small group of cells with stem cell-like properties (the ability to self-renew and differentiate). The cells were identified by the presence of three specific antibody markers on the cell surface.

Until recently, cancer therapies were largely focused on shrinking tumors and killing as many cells as possible. Research is now teaching us that a limited number of cells in tumors may be responsible for their growth. These stem cells are becoming the new targets for cancer treatments and can be used to predict whether a cancer has been eliminated or if it will return. The discovery of stem cells in pancreatic tumors brings hope that the 5-year survival rate of 3% for this disease might be dramatically increased in the near future.