Mayo Clinic. US: A research team led by investigators from Mayo Clinic’s campus in Jacksonville, Florida,
and the University of Oslo, Norway, have identified a molecule that
pushes normal pancreatic cells to transform their shape, laying the
groundwork for development of pancreatic cancer — one of the most difficult tumors to treat.
Their findings, reported in Nature Communications,
suggest that inhibiting the gene, protein kinase D1 (PKD1), and its
protein could halt progression and spread of this form of pancreatic
cancer, and possibly even reverse the transformation.
“As soon as pancreatic cancer develops, it begins to spread, and PKD1
is key to both processes. Given this finding, we are busy developing a
PKD1 inhibitor that we can test further,” says the study’s co-lead
investigator, Peter Storz, Ph.D., a cancer researcher at Mayo Clinic.
MEDIA CONTACT: Kevin Punsky, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs,
904-953-0746. Email:punsky.kevin@mayo.edu