Spanish researchers have had a clinical breakthrough in how to treat pancreatic cancer after managing to completely cure it in mice.
The scientists from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) wiped out tumors and detailed how it happened in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Less than 10 percent of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer survive for more than five years after their diagnosis. It impacts 67,530 people and kills 52,740 in the US each year, per the American Institute for Cancer Research.
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A study last year however might offer some more hope. It was led by Dr Mariano Barbacid, who previously played a vital role in identifying the first human oncogene, which are genetic mutations that cause cancer.
The new research focuses on the KRAS oncogene, which is mutated in 90 percent of people who have pancreatic cancer.The problem with previous attempts to target the KRAS gene is that the tumor can become resistant to the therapies within a few months.
But the new approach uses a cocktail of three drugs to inhibit the gene at three different points, which means the tumor is less likely to become resistant to the treatment.
When they tested it on mice, they found it permanently eliminated pancreatic tumors without any major side effects.
The scientists wrote in the study: « These studies open a path to designing new combination therapies that can improve survival for patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma [the most common pancreatic cancer].
“These results point the way for developing new clinical trials.”A team of scientists from the Spanish Cancer Research Centre, led by the renowned Dr Mariano Barbacid, has achieved the complete and permanent disappearance of pancreatic cancer in experimental models.
This discovery could make a difference in the fight against this disease. 👏
The Embassy of Spain in the UK went on to share the achievement on X yesterday (January 28), explaining how this can impact the future of medicine.
They wrote: « A team of scientists from the Spanish Cancer Research Centre, led by the renowned Dr Mariano Barbacid, has achieved the complete and permanent disappearance of pancreatic cancer in experimental models. This discovery could make a difference in the fight against this disease. »
However, human trials are not yet available, with Barbacid explaining in a press release: « It is important to understand that, although experimental results like those described here have never been obtained before, we are not yet in a position to carry out clinical trials with the triple therapy. »
While acknowledging that utilising this breakthrough to treat humans ‘will not be easy’, the authors said it ‘could open the door to new therapeutic options to improve the clinical outcome of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma in the not-too-distant future’.
That sounds like something worth celebrating.Scientists reveal how colon cancer is only type of cancer where deaths are increasing for people under 50
Colon cancer has become the deadliest cancer for people under the age of 50, despite more young people surviving cancer than ever before
Warning: This article contains discussion of cancer which some readers may find distressing.
Even though the world can seem like an increasingly gloomy place, one shining light in the darkness has to be the ever-increasing number of people surviving cancer. However, the exception, sadly, is colon cancer.
Modern science has allowed humanity to fight back against many cancers that would previously have gone undetected and untreated, causing millions to live longer and healthier lives. But for a certain group, colon cancers are beating this positive trend.
Scientific progress has drastically reduced the number of cancer deaths across all age groups, including almost all cancers that affect younger people. But, despite deaths from all other forms of cancer decreasing, forms of the disease that affect the colon have continued to rise in those under the age of 50.According to a new report from the American Cancer Society, for the first time, colorectal cancer has become the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in younger people – and scientists say the reason could be a lack of awareness of the disease’s more obvious warning signs.
Researchers exploring the causes of early-onset cancer analyzed the mortality rates of the five deadliest cancers among men and women under the age of 50.
Amazingly, they found that cancer deaths in this age cohort had fallen by 44 percent between 1990 and 2023. This fall was reflected across four of the five most common types of the disease.
But while declines in smoking rates, early detection and better treatments have seen more and more young patients survive cancer, the number of people dying from colorectal cancer has steadily increased by around two percent each year.
This means that it is now the deadliest cancer for under 50s, after being fifth in 1990. It is the leading cause of cancer deaths in younger men, and the second, behind breast cancer, in women, this is despite colorectal cancer traditionally considered an age-related disease.
“They’re considered cancers of aging,” gastrointestinal cancer expert Jeff Meyerhardt MD, told Scientific American. “At least in the case of colorectal cancer, the age [of onset] was set for quite a while, until more recently.”Why are more young people dying from colorectal cancers?
Scientists have pointed to the lower rates of early detection in colorectal cancers, an important factor in survival, as one of the causes for this increased mortality in younger Americans.
This is, in part, because the under-50s are less likely to come forward when they experience the major red flags of the condition, which include bloating, blood in their stool, and painful bowel movements.
Standard screening for this type of disease does not kick in until someone reaches the age of 45, a guideline which has already been lowered by five years as a result of the growing prevalence of colorectal cancer in younger people.
But scientists are also asking how these cancers are even developing in young people in the first place, as a person in their 20s or 30s diagnosed with a colorectal cancer would have to have been a teenager when the tumorous growth started.
What is causing more young people to develop these cancers?
Andrea Cercek, co-director of the Center for Young Onset Colorectal and Gastrointestinal Cancer, explained: “If you think about the typical process for, let’s say, a 22-year-old, the polyp would have had to start, literally, when they were 10.
« We’re very interested to see if there is something about the process that might be more accelerated, that might be different. »
Current hypotheses for this increased prevalence of deadly colorectal cancers in young people are largely focused on broad-scale changes that have taken place in the past 30 years, including lifestyle, diet, and even microplastics.
But Cercek added: « What’s happening ‘big picture’ is alarming. But it’s super important to acknowledge that survivorship for a young adult with colorectal cancer is life-changing. It’s incredibly difficult and can be incredibly taxing from an emotional, physical and financial standpoint.
« The more that we can diagnose early, the better it will be for our patients. »
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the American Cancer Society on 1-800-227-2345 or via their live chat feature, available 24/7 every day of the year.
A study has found that using GLP-1 drugs could reduce the rates of death in certain cancer patients.
Almost 12 percent of Americans have used the medication, as per RAND.
The injectable drugs works by mimicking the hormone glucagon-like peptide-1, which helps control blood sugar and appetite.
Wegovy, Zepbound and Saxenda are all FDA-approved prescription medications for weight loss in the United States.
Then there’s Ozempic, which belongs to the same family of drugs but isn’t signed off for weight loss; instead, it’s used to manage type 2 diabetes.
Now, new research from the University of California San Diego suggests these drugs can lower death rates in patients with a type of cancer surging in young people.
The cancer in question is colon cancer, a type of colorectal cancer – the latter of which is the third most common cancer in the US and the third leading cause of cancer death, as per the American Cancer Society.There’s been a consistent two percent annual increase in colorectal cancer cases among 20 to 39 year olds since the mid 1990s, with diets rich in processed food and red meat, lack of exercise and a sedentary lifestyle thought to be contributing to the rise.
But UC San Diego scientists found that colon cancer patients using GLP-1 medications were significantly less likely to die within five years than those who weren’t taking them.
Using data from the University of California Health Data Warehouse, some 6,871 patients were analyzed.
The five-year mortality rate was 15.5 percent for GLP-1 users compared to 37.1 percent for non-users.
Even after adjusting for factors like age, body mass index (BMI), disease severity, and other health conditions, patients taking GLP-1 drugs maintained a much lower risk of death.However those with a BMI of more than 35 were impacted the most, indicating that GLP-1 medications might help counteract the inflammatory and metabolic issues that can worsen colon cancer outcomes.
Researchers point to several possible explanations, including that GLP-1 receptor agonists don’t just regulate blood sugar, but they also reduce inflammation, enhance insulin sensitivity and promote weight loss.
Together, these effects could weaken pathways that fuel tumor growth.
Lab studies also show that GLP-1 drugs may help stop cancer cells from growing, possibly killing them, and change the area around tumors in ways that slow the disease.However, the study’s author, Raphael Cuomo, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Anaesthesiology at UC San Diego School of Medicine and a member of the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, stresses that further research is needed to confirm whether these benefits stem from a true anti-cancer effect or from the drugs’ broader impact on metabolic health.
He has issued a call for urgent clinical trials to test whether GLP-1 drugs can improve cancer survival rates, especially for patients with obesity-related cancers.
Scientists develop vaccine that could wipe out world’s deadliest cancer
It has delivered never-seen-before results
A vaccine that could help fight one of the deadliest forms of cancer is in the works – and could one day become a reality.
Scientists have been working hard to help cure various forms of the disease for decades now.
And they could be on the edge of a breakthrough, with a pancreatic cancer vaccine delivering never-seen-before results in preclinical trials.
Pancreatic cancer accounts for three percent of all cancers in the US and eight percent of all cancer deaths, according to the American Cancer Society.
Around 67,440 people – 34,950 men and 32,490 women – are forecast to be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2025.
The most common form is pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) – the deadliest and most stubborn manifestation of the disease.While the exact cause of PDAC is not always known, there are a number of risk factors, including genetic mutations, chronic pancreatitis, and lifestyle factors including smoking, alcohol and obesity.
PDAC has a poor prognosis as it presents so late, with early-stage symptoms often going undetected.
And while treatments including chemotherapy and surgery can extend survival, they are rarely able to cure the aggressive disease.
But now, researchers at Case Western Reserve University may have just changed the game.
It’s said that prevention is better than cure – and scientists have developed a vaccine that trains the immune system to hunt and destroy ‘bad’ cells.
The scientists created nanoparticles carrying antigens, which teach the immune system to recognize and attack pancreatic cancer cells.
This encourages the body to create its own T cells, which are equipped to better fight against the cancer, while building up ‘immune memory’ for longer-term protection.The researchers plan to combine the vaccine with immune checkpoint inhibitors, a type of drug that stops cancer from ‘turning off’ the immune system.
It delivered ‘never seen before’ results, with more than half of the test subjects remaining completely cancer-free for months.
“Pancreatic cancer is super aggressive,” said Zheng-Rong Lu, the M. Frank Rudy and Margaret C. Rudy Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the Case School of Engineering. “So it came as a surprise that our approach works so well.”
So far, the jab has only been tested on ‘preclinical models,’ which could include cell-based and animal models.“We’ve shown that our vaccine generated immune memory in preclinical models, » Lu added. « If we could do that in patients, we could prevent PDAC before tumors start forming, so the vaccines could be either therapeutic or preventative.”
The researchers received a $3.27 million grant over five years from the National Cancer Institute to continue studying how vaccines could help treat pancreatic cancer in lab models.
Lu hopes to work with companies to test the safety of the vaccine in more models before starting trials in humans.
