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DCU researcher commences new study on pancreatic cancer cells
DCU researcher commences new study on pancreatic cancer cells

DCU researcher commences new study on pancreatic cancer cells

A Dublin City University researcher has commenced a new study examining the significance of DNA changes in patients with pancreatic cancer cells and how these changes inform the development patterns of the disease.

Dr. Naomi Walsh of the National Institute for Cellular Biotechnology at DCU is analysing the changes in the DNA of pancreatic cancer tumour cells and hopes that the findings from this study can lead to the development of a screening test to enable early detection of the disease.

This would represent a major advancement, as at present, surgery is the only curative option for pancreatic cancer, but unfortunately very few patients are diagnosed at an early stage.

Recent statistics on pancreatic cancer as reported on World Pancreatic Cancer Day (November 17th 2016) shows that the disease is ranked as the 7th most common cancer in Ireland.

There are approximately 496 diagnoses per annum, and around 500 deaths from the disease. Worryingly, with increasing incidence, the survival rate has not improved substantially in the past 30 years.

A recent study reported that by 2030, pancreatic cancer will be the 2nd most common cancer-related cause of death in the USA, surpassing breast, prostate and colorectal cancer.

Dr. Walsh’s work is building on existing findings which show that changes do occur in the DNA of those with pancreatic cancer. In addition, she is using 3D tumour models which will allow a more in-depth analysis of cancerous cells and represents a departure from the more commonly used 2D system.

Using 3D models, her research will validate the biological consequences and clinical utility of these DNA changes in pancreatic cancer relevant models.

Speaking about the new research project Dr. Walsh said: “Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate of all cancers - 93% of patients will die within five years. The poor prognosis is mainly attributable to late diagnosis and rapid spread of the disease.

Therefore, in order to improve survival more research into early detection and diagnosis is essential. Recently, advances in new technologies have uncovered changes in the DNA of patients with pancreatic cancer, but we do not fully understand the importance of these variants on pancreatic cancer development.

This new research uses 3D models to study how these changes affect the development of pancreatic cancer and if they can be used to detect the disease at an early stage.”