Pancreatic Cancer News

What You Need to Know About Pancreatic Cancer Too many lights have gone out too soon. The recent passing of Michael “D’Angelo” Archer, and before him, Congressman John Lewis, Supreme […]

A new treatment that kills two genes responsible for causing pancreatic cancer — one of the most fatal forms of the disease — is being hailed as a possible breakthrough. Dr. James Cleary, an oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, said pancreatic cancer research had been “left behind” — but not anymore.

The prevalence of pathogenic germline variants associated with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and limitations of current methods to determine testing eligibility may warrant universal germline genetic testing at the time of diagnosis, according to a study of a consecutive cohort. Full genetic testing may identify actionable genetic mutations among patients who would not have been tested under current guidelines, and also may identify future cancer risks for family members.

Pancreatic cancer often spreads, forming metastases in the liver or lungs. The prognosis is better for patients with metastases in the lungs. However, the organ that is more likely to be affected depends on the cancer cells' ability to alter their characteristics and shape - as a research team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has discovered.