A team of Italian scientists have
found one of the engines that drive cancer of the pancreas, one
of the most aggressive tumours, in a discovery that has enabled
them to identify a therapeutic target to hopefully slow the
advance of the disease.
The research has been led by Milan's Istituto San Raffaele, with
the Istituto Telethon of gene therapy and the Università Vita e
Salute.
Also working on the project were the universities of Turin and
Verona, the French Institute For Health and Medical Research
(INSERM), the Biopolis research centre in Singapore and the
University of Shanghai.
Favouring the growth of this form of tumour which is still sadly
very lethal, the ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas, is a
special alliance between a particular type of immune cells,
called IL-1beta+ macrophages, and some very aggressive tumour
cells, known for being linked to inflammation.
"It's a sort of self-feeding vicious circle," said research
leader Renato Ostuni, head of the Innate Immune System Genomics
Lab at the Istituto Sr-Tiget and associate professor at the
Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele.
"The macrophages make the tumour cells more aggressive, and the
tumour cells reprogramme the macrophages capable of favouring
inflammation, and the progression of the disease".
The authors of the research said: "We have taken a good step
forward in the understanding of the biological processes
underlying the disease. However, we are at a stage of
pre-clinical research, still distant from application in
patients.
"The coming years will be essential to identify the
potentialities and the most appropriate modalities to act on
this new therapeutic target".
The project was backed by Fondazione Airc , Italy's cancer
research foundation, the European Research Council, and the
Italian health ministry.
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