1. Cancer
Cells
May
Fight
Pancreatic
Cancer
in
Earlier
Stages
A
new
study
presented
by
Dr.
Paul
E.
Oberstein
and
Dr.
Kenneth
P.
Olive
in
the
journal
Cancer
Cell
came
to
a
surprising
conclusion
regarding
one
of
the
most
common
types
of
pancreatic
cancer
known
as
Pancreatic
Ductal
Adenocarcinoma
(PDAC).
PDAC
makes
up
90%
of
pancreatic
cancer
cases
and
has
a
very
poor
outlook.
The
average
survival
rate
is
just
6
months
after
a
patient
has
been
diagnosed.
PDAC
tumors
are
made
up
of
both
tumor
and
stromal
cells.
Stroma
is
the
connective
tissue
in
organs,
and
includes
both
fibroblast
(tissue
that
provides
structure
to
cells)
and
cellular
material
such
as
collagen.
Stromal
cells
are
of
particular
interest
to
researchers
as
many
think
they
play
a
strong
role
in
the
development
of
cancer.
In
a
previous
study,
Dr.
Olive
reduced
the
content
of
stromal
cells
in
mice
with
pancreatic
cancer
by
blocking
a
molecular
pathway
used
by
these
cells
and
then
treated
the
mice
with
chemotherapy.
The
mice
treated
with
the
combination
of
blocked
stromal
cells
and
chemotherapy
survived
longer
than
those
treated
with
either
of
these
options
alone,
or
those
that
received
no
treatment
at
all.
But,
when
this
was
tested
in
humans
the
opposite
occurred.
Comparing
the
two,
studies
Dr.
Oberstein
and
Dr.
Olive
surmised
that
the
difference
could
be
due
to
the
fact
that
human
patients
were
given
chemotherapy
for
a
longer
period
of
time.
Perhaps
the
combination
of
reduced
stromal
cells
and
chemotherapy
had
one
effect
in
a
shorter
treatment
cycle
and
a
different
effect
in
a
longer
one.
To
test
this
they
repeated
the
study
with
mice
that
were
in
an
earlier
stage
of
the
disease
and
treated
them
with
chemotherapy
longer.
Now
the
chemotherapy
reduced
survival
similar
to
the
results
of
the
human
clinical
trial.
Working
with
collaborators
Ben
Stanger
at
the
University
of
Pennsylvania
and
Andrew
Rhim
from
the
University
of
Michigan,
Drs.
Olive
and
Oberstein
demonstrated
that
there
are
certain
cell
types
in
a
tumor
that
might
actually
inhibit
cancer
growth.
These
findings
were
not
expected
and
disproved
a
common
theory
about
pancreatic
cancer
tumors.
Ongoing
work
will
study
how
these
stromal
cells
may
actually
inhibit
tumor
growth.
For
more
information
on
cancer
research
and
treatment
at
Columbia
University
Medical
Center
visit
the
Division
of
Hematology/Oncology
web
page.
The
full
article
Stromal
Elements
Act
to
Restrain,
Rather
Than
Support,
Pancreatic
Ductal
Adenocarcinoma
is
available
on
Cancer
Cell.