Scientists are one step closer to treating pancreatic cancer after uncovering an ‘early warning signal’ of the deadly disease that appears years before symptom onset.
Researchers found that pre-cancerous cells in the gland group together to create small ‘neighbourhoods’ inside the tissue.
These cell groups then target nearby immune cells, weakening the body’s ability to fight off the disease at the very earliest stages of cancer development.
The findings, published in the journal Gastroenterology, could help scientists develop better ways to detect pancreatic cancer earlier – when treatment is most effective.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms of the disease, with just one in four patients living more than year after diagnosis.
It is typically diagnosed at a late stage, when treatment is difficult, because it causes few symptoms early on.
But there is hope that doctors will soon be able to detect the most common and deadliest form of the disease earlier, by looking at how lesions develop over time.
The study, led by experts at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, used advanced imagining to examine both mice and human pancreatic tissue samples.
Pancreatic cancer could be caught earlier after scientists pinpointed what happens at a cellular level years before diagnosis
They found that pre-cancerous cells cluster together early inside lesions in the pancreas, often right next to immune cells responsible for fighting off disease.
This close proximity facilitates gene expression patterns known to dampen immune activity, suggesting that immune evasion – the process by which cancer hides from the body’s defense system – may begin long before cancer develops.
Dr Sharona Tornovsky–Babeay, immunologist and study co-author said: ‘By understanding the process of lesion formation and development, we may be able to better identify high-risk lesions and, in the future, design strategies that intervenes before cancer fully develops.’
Crucially, the team observed similar cell grouping and immune responses in human tissue, strengthening the relevance of the findings beyond mice models.
Together, the researchers hope their findings offer a more detailed picture of the earliest changes in the development of pancreatic cancer, highlight how immune interactions may shape disease outcome long before symptoms appear.
Experts still don’t know what causes the majority of cases, but have suggested smoking, alcohol use and obesity could all increase the risk of the disease.
The pancreas is a pear-shaped gland tucked behind the stomach, responsible for producing hormones that aid digestion and convert sugar into energy.
Because of its location and its relatively small size, doctors often can’t feel a pancreatic tumour during a physical exam, another barrier to early treatment.
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And whilst getting older is one of the biggest risk factors for the silent but deadly disease, with almost half of cases diagnosed in over 75s, experts have warned it’s on the rise in younger age groups – especially women.
The increase appears to be driven by pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, the most common and aggressive form of the disease, which experts focused on in this study.
Some suggests this may reflect better detection of earlier stage tumours, however others point to rising obesity rates and poor diets as potential drivers.
It comes as a landmark study published last week into the link between diet and cancer risk found vegetarians are 21 per cent less likely to develop the disease than meat-eaters.
There is existing evidence that eating a lot of red and processed meat may increase the risk of pancreatic cancer, due to the formation of nitrosamines upon cooking – compounds known to cause cancer.
But the fresh research suggested obesity could also play a role, with vegetarians tending to have a lower body-mass index score than meat eaters.
But, experts say, more research is needed to understand why and the evidence is not definitive.
