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At TOW global oncology conference the team of the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) in Toulouse announced their discovery, described as promising. It is about a significant advancement in the treatment against pancreatic cancer. The picture below shows a cancer cell in 3D taken from Photos: jovan vitanovski / shutterstock.com. It suggests how cancer cells attach to human organ cells. It is interesting that similar pictures were obtained with an SEM microscope.

Elimination of the CDA would stop the progress of pancreatic cancer

Working with cytidine deaminase (CDA), an enzyme familiar in the field of oncology, the scientists expected  a higher sensitivity to chemotherapy, but they found another action of a modified protein, the stoppage of the progression of the tumor.

Treatment to wait in 5 to 10 years

It is stated that this advanced cancer upset was possible even before chemotherapy has not been established. The scientist Pierre Cordelier believes, however, that it will take between 5 to 10 years before this discovery will lead to a treatment. Recall that pancreatic cancer is a disease whose chances of survival appear relatively low. Indeed there are 12,000 deaths related to this tumor on the 13,000 cases reported each year. Experts expect also that pancreatic cancer from fourth to second place in the classification of causes of death by cancer.

The sections of the symposium

The symposium had six scientific sessions:

–       Genetic instability and cell cycle

–       Gene expression and epigenetics

–       Metabolism

–       Tumor biology and stem cells

–       Immunity

–       New technologies applicable to health

During the TOW, the first international symposium of Toulouse Center for Cancerology Research two Nobel laureates. Professor Jules Hoffmann, winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Medicine, and Professor Gerd Binnig, winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physics, were announced to honor the symposium with their presence.

Comment

It is interesting that the last symposium on pancreatic cancer was held in France too, at Marseilles, 2015. At that meeting there were four sessions on pancreas cancer and the high frequency of such meetings shows a sense of urgency on pancreatic cancer that is raising. In the world, India and  Africa has the less rate of pancreas cancers per 100.000 people. The future of pancreas cancer is discussed in here. Pancreatic cancer is rare (it represents 2.1% of all tumors), but its incidence has increased since the middle of the 20th century. Furthermore, over 80% of patients experience a recurrence following surgery (60% of them within 6 months). In Spain, almost 4,000 new cases are recorded every year — 53% in men and 44% in women — most of whom are diagnosed between the ages of 65 and 75. In the US, the two curves, new cases and non-survivals are almost the same, the separation is only a small margin, making everybody aware of this disease.

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