Deleting just one gene may 'completely prevent' pancreatic cancer

4th Jun 2019

Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive form of cancer that tends to be diagnosed quite late and often resists treatment.

According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Some estimates predict that by 2020, pancreatic cancer will become the second leading cause of death.

One of the main drivers behind pancreatic cancer is the so-called KRAS oncogene. But new research identifies another gene whose action is crucial for the development of this cancer.

Dr. Diane Simeone, who is the director of the Pancreatic Cancer Center at the New York University Langone Health's Perlmutter Cancer Center, is the corresponding author of this new research.

Dr. Simeone and her colleagues carried out a study in mice and human patient samples to examine the role of a gene called "ataxia-telangiectasia group D complementing" (ATDC) in pancreatic tumor formation.

The researchers will be publishing their findings in the journal Genes & Development.

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