Gene may explain why pancreatic cancer is so aggressive

Even when detected at its earliest stages pancreatic cancer has a survival rate of roughly 30%. Of the 46,000 cases of pancreatic cancer in 2014, 39,000 had succumbed to it. A recent study published in the journal genes and development suggests a gene called ATDC (also known as TRIM29) plays a large role in the pre-invasive pancreatic tumors progression into a metastatic state. This state allows the cancer cells to travel throughout the body. A recent article from medical news today explains that ATDC is involved in 90% of pancreatic cancers and is partially responsible the spread of tumors. The growth and spread of tumors is caused by ATDC's ability to cause the cancer cell to change state. This change of state is called epithelial-to-mesenchmal transition (EMT). EMT causes the cells to become loosely associated, which allows them to move throughout the body more easily. It was also discovered that there is evidence of a new molecular pathway that promotes EMT during the development of cancer. It is considered that ATDC is a "proximal regulator of EMT." Unfortunately, there are no drugs that address this molecular pathway, but learning more about ATDC could provide researchers with somewhere to start.

I found this article interesting because I have seen the effects of pancreatic cancer on the human body.  I hope that the discovery of ATDC and the molecular pathway that promotes EMT is a step in the right direction for scientists and that a drug can be created in the near future for those who suffer from such a vicious disease.