Research Shows Possible New Pancreatic Cancer Treatment

By Matis Glenn

Researchers at Hebrew University published a study Wednesday that showed a possible new way to treat pancreatic cancer, according to Ynet.

Published in the journal Nature, the researchers compared around 400 non-metastatic pancreatic tumors with metastatic ones, and discovered that changes in the RNA determined whether or not the cells would metastasize. The prevailing theory among cancer doctors is that changes in DNA are responsible for the differentiation.

Pancreatic cancer, one of the most deadly forms, is notorious for being difficult to treat.

The study found that RBFOX2, a protein which works to process RNA, gets dissolved in metastatic cancer cells; when it disappears, it allows hundreds of genes to make RNA in an unregulated way, which leads to more metastasis. Restoring RBFOX2 into the cells appeared to slow the growth of the cancerous cells.

 A drug currently used by organ transplant patients might be able to replicate what RBFOX2 does to a degree, by preventing the wild growth of genes from the cells.