Zeroing In on Earliest Stages of Pancreatic Cancer Development
Source: Sebastian Kaulitzki/Science Photo Library/Getty Images
February 5, 2021
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Scientists in Scott Lowe’s lab at the Sloan Kettering Institute report that they are trying to zero in on the earliest stages of pancreatic cancer development.
“If we understood how these tumors form, maybe we could catch them before the cancer has progressed to an incurable stage,” says Direna Alonso Curbelo, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Lowe lab who is the first author of a new paper “A gene–environment-induced epigenetic program initiates tumorigenesis” published in
Nature.
Using advanced genomic techniques and innovative mouse models, the researchers were able to discern how tissue damage synergizes with specific genetic changes to promote the earliest stages of pancreatic cancer.
Study shows how tissue damage promotes the earliest stages of pancreatic cancer
Like weeds sprouting from cracks in the pavement, cancer often forms in sites of tissue damage. That damage could be an infection, a physical wound, or some type of inflammation.
Common examples include stomach cancer caused by H. pylori infection, Barrett s esophagus caused by acid reflux, and even smoking-induced lung cancer.
Exactly how tissue damage colludes with genetic changes to promote cancer isn t fully understood. Most of what scientists know about cancer concerns advanced stages of the disease. That s especially true for cancers such as pancreatic cancer that are usually diagnosed very late.
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Like weeds sprouting from cracks in the pavement, cancer often forms in sites of tissue damage. That damage could be an infection, a physical wound, or some type of inflammation. Common examples include stomach cancer caused by H. pylori infection, Barrett s esophagus caused by acid reflux, and even smoking-induced lung cancer.
Exactly how tissue damage colludes with genetic changes to promote cancer isn t fully understood. Most of what scientists know about cancer concerns advanced stages of the disease. That s especially true for cancers such as pancreatic cancer that are usually diagnosed very late.
Researchers in Scott Lowe s lab at the Sloan Kettering Institute are now trying to zero in on the earliest stages of pancreatic cancer development.