Scientists Zero in on Pancreatic Cancer Genes; FurtherResearch May Improve Diagnosis, Treatment for No. 4 Cancer Killer.

Scientists team at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor was able to distinguish genes involved in cancer from those involved in a chronic inflammatory disease, pancreatitis, that's often mistaken for cancer. Both diseases produce similar scar tissue around the pear-shaped pancreas gland, which produces insulin, hormones and digestive juices. Late diagnosis, a lack of effective treatment options, rapid metastasis, and a dearth of research on how pancreatic cancer works combine to make the nation's 10th most common cancer into its 4th most deadly cancer. In the paper, published May 15, the team reports finding 158 genes specific to pancreatic cancer, the most accurate list to date. The newly published paper is based on tissue from ten pancreatic tumors, five samples from pancreatitis patients and five samples of normal pancreas, as well as seven commercially available pancreatic cancer cell lines.