September 19, 2003

Pancreatic cancer linked to developmental cell signaling pathway

Scientists at the MGH and the University of California at San Francisco have
found strong evidence that a cell signaling pathway active in embryonic development plays a crucial role in pancreatic cancer. The finding, published in the journal Nature,
provides the first model of the development and growth of pancreatic cancer and suggests a clear route for treatment of this lethal malignancy.

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. Each year 30,000 cases are diagnosed, and for the majority of patients the disease is incurable. Using human cell lines, the researchers showed that pancreatic cancer growth can be arrested by chemically blocking a signaling pathway previously known to be active in human embryonic development. Known as the Hedgehog pathway, this cascade of chemical steps allows proteins to pass along a signal that leads to changes in gene activity and has already been linked to several other types of cancer.

"Surgery has represented the only possible cure for pancreatic cancer patients,"
said Sarah P. Thayer, MD, PhD, of the MGH Department of Surgery, the paper's co-first and co-senior author. "Most patients, however, are diagnosed at an incurable stage of their disease. We have been stymied by our inability to diagnose patients earlier and offer effective treatments." She and her colleagues hope that identifying the role of the Hedgehog pathway will lead to development of better therapeutic strategies.

MGH co-authors of the study are Drucilla Roberts, MD; Gregory Lauwers, MD; Corinne Nielsen; Carlos Fernandez-del Castillo, MD; Bozena Antoniu; Vijay Yajnik, MD, PhD; and Andrew Warshaw, MD.