A Recent Study Reveals That Pancreatic Cancer Is Actually Four Separate Diseases With Each Potential New Treatment

A study about the genetics of pancreatic cancer was examined by Australian researchers from the University of Melbourne. They discovered that pancreatic cancer comprises of 4 diseases; hence, this will pave a way for more analysis and treatments.

Science Daily reports that the study was led by Prof. Sean Grimmond, the Director of Research and the Bertalli Chair in Cancer Medicine, the University of Melbourne Centre for Cancer Research. Its findings were recently published in the international journal Nature.

The researchers also found out that there were 10 genetic pathways at the center of transmuting normal pancreatic tissue into cancerous tumors. These procedures are related to lung and bladder cancers that may open up to possible treatments for these types of cancers and also pancreatic cancer.

"We identified 32 genes from 10 genetic pathways that are consistently mutated in pancreatic tumors, but further analysis of gene activity revealed four distinct subtypes of tumors," Prof. Grimmond said.

"This study demonstrates that pancreatic cancer is better considered as four separate diseases, with different survival rates, treatment and underlying genetics." He then discussed that knowing which subtype a patient has would allow medical experts to provide more accurate prognosis and treatment recommendation. Likewise, he said that there are already cancer drugs and possible medicines that are in development to treat the part of the "damaged machinery" of pancreatic cancer.

WebMD describes pancreatic cancer as a disease wherein the spreading cancerous cells develop in the tissues of the pancreas. Most of the pancreatic cancers begin exocrine cells, the pancreatic cells that produce the digestive juices. Pancreatic cancer occurs when cells in the pancreas develop mutation -- which is the cause of cells to grow uncontrollably that form into a tumor, in the DNA."

The symptoms of pancreatic cancer include weight loss, jaundice, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Its treatments involve chemotherapy, radiation and surgery.