Pancreatic cancer is a silent killer. A new experimental therapy has managed to “intercept” it before it attacks
Pancreatic cancer is classically known as one of the most lethal and feared that exist because of how difficult it can be to treat in some cases and the high mortality rates. But this high mortality rate is not due to its aggressiveness from minute 0, but to its stealthy nature, making it when he shows his face With the first symptoms, the disease is already in a very advanced phase that makes treatment very difficult. It’s where to act. In this way, the objective of the researchers is precisely to try to advance the diagnosis as much as possible, since treatment in the initial phases of the disease can give great results. And this is exactly what a new study that focuses on the ‘cancer interception’ strategy suggests. This is something that researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have focused on, who have achieved a vitally important advance in mouse models. And the fact is that, instead of focusing on attacking the already formed pancreatic tumor of considerable size, they have directed their artillery against the microscopic precursor lesions, known as PanIN. Its foundation. This is something that can be reduced to literally putting out the fire when it is still just a small spark. And as the specialized media report, by removing these microscopic lesions precancerous diseases, researchers manage to stop the advance towards the dreaded pancreatic adenocarcinoma in mice, proposing a total paradigm shift in how we could face this disease. Genetics is key. Something that has been known for a long time is that there are people who have a genetic predisposition to suffer from this disease. Specifically, in more than 90% of cases, the mutation responsible for triggering the disease is found in a gene called KRAS. A gene that for decades was considered “unapproachable” by classical pharmacology and that acted as a great shield against the disease. However, medicine is advancing in leaps and bounds, and this study uses selective inhibitors for this gene with the aim of silencing it precisely in PanIN lesions. In this way, by neutralizing the growth signals that the KRAS gene gives to tumor cells, they cannot take the step to begin to spread throughout the body, which causes the most serious symptoms. Mice today, hope for tomorrow. Logically, we must put our feet on the ground, since we are dealing with a preclinical study. That is, the therapy has proven to be a resounding success in animal models, but there is still a long way to go until this therapy can be used in a human in a hospital, since it must be seen that the effect is similar in our organisms. However, this research fits perfectly with the new medical philosophy against pancreatic cancer. As highlighted by the National Cancer Research Center (CNIO) in his recent communicationsthe future undoubtedly involves knowing the personalized risk and ensuring that those people who are more likely to suffer from pancreatic cancer due to their genetics receive exhaustive screening to detect the disease in time and increase the probability of survival. Images | Bioscience Image Library In Xataka | A Spanish milestone against pancreatic cancer: we are one step closer to eradicating it but there is still a long way to go
