A breakthrough discovery by Chinese scientists could improve survival rates for pancreatic cancer patients

Pancreatic cancer is rarely diagnosed in its early stages, when cure is most likely. The average 5-year survival rate is less than 10%.

The Chinese study enrolled 1,171 patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the most common subtype of pancreatic cancer, accounting for more than 95 percent of all cases, with extensive follow-up.

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PDAC causes approximately 466,000 deaths worldwide each year and is projected to become the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths by 2030.

After more than three years of follow-up, the Chinese team identified 191 patients’ proteomes (the complete set of proteins expressed by an organism) and transcriptomes (the number of mRNA transcripts produced in a particular cell or tissue type). Describing the set) was sequenced. This led to the successful construction of a prognostic model for pancreatic cancer and the identification of two important protein biomarkers, NDUFB8 and CEMIP2.

The study was co-led by scientists and doctors from Ruijin Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Changhai Hospital, Shanghai.

The paper was originally published online in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Medicine on January 29th, but was officially published as the cover article in its latest issue on March 19th.

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To confirm the effectiveness of these biomarkers, the team further tested their results in three separate patient groups, with more than 200 participants in each group, at medical centers in France and China. did. This process “strengthened the robustness and generalizability of our findings,” the authors said.

The study is believed to be the first proteomics-based “exploration of biomarkers related to PDAC treatment,” said Fan Jia, a senior physician at Fudan University Affiliated Zhongshan Hospital in Shanghai, on Chinese social media. He said this in a comment posted on the account “BioArt.” ” Late January.

The discovery “heralds a new era in precision diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer,” said Huang, who was not involved in the study.

In the same article, two other experts, Li Ming and Liu Mingyan, said that approximately 60 percent of pancreatic cancer patients have metastatic disease at the time of initial diagnosis, and 30 percent have metastatic disease. It was pointed out that the disease was in a locally advanced stage.

“This deprives them of the opportunity for surgical cure and leaves them with the next best option of comprehensive chemotherapy-based treatment,” they said.

Mr. Li is a researcher at the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine and president of the American Pancreas Association, and Mr. Liu is from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Cancer Hospital.

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However, in recent years it has become clear that pancreatic cancer is a highly heterogeneous tumor and can look different from patient to patient.

“How to accurately predict the effectiveness of chemotherapy and optimize a patient’s treatment portfolio is the focus and challenge of current pancreatic cancer research,” the researchers said.