Scientists may have found key to treating hidden cancer growths

"Scientists may have discovered the way in which pancreatic cancer dubbed the silent killer hides from the immune system, and how disrupting this process could help tumours to shrink. In a recent study, researchers from the University of Wurzburg in Germany found that the cancer gene MYC, which helps cancer cells grow, also camouflages tumours by suppressing alarm signals that normally activate the immune system and attack the tumour."

"The study was led by Martin Eilers as part of the Cancer Grand Challenges KOODAC research team. He said: While pancreatic tumours with normal MYC increased in size 24-fold within 28 days, tumours with a defective MYC protein collapsed during the same period and shrank by 94 per cent but only if the animals' immune systems were intact."

Scientists identified a mechanism by which pancreatic cancer evades immune detection: the cancer gene MYC suppresses alarm signals that would normally activate immune attack. Blocking this MYC-driven mechanism in animal models produced a dramatic reduction in tumours. Tumours with defective MYC collapsed and shrank by 94 percent within 28 days, whereas tumours with normal MYC increased 24-fold over the same period, but these effects occurred only when animals had intact immune systems. The findings link MYC activity to tumour camouflage and suggest that targeting this pathway could expose pancreatic cancers to the body's own defences, offering promising therapeutic avenues.

Read at www.independent.co.uk