(Press-News.org) Cancer Research UK-funded scientists have uncovered dementia-like behaviour in pancreas cells at risk of turning into cancer. The findings provide clues that could help in the treatment and prevention of pancreatic cancer, a difficult-to-treat disease linked to 6,900 deaths in the UK every year.*
The research was published today (15 August) in the journal Developmental Cell**, and was funded by Cancer Research UK, with additional support from Wellcome, the Medical Research Council, and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
Researchers from the Cancer Research UK Scotland Centre studied pancreas cells in mice over time, to see what was causing healthy cells to turn into cancer cells. They discovered that pancreatic cells at risk of becoming cancerous, known as pre-cancers, develop faults in the cell’s recycling process (known as “autophagy”).
In pre-cancer cells, the researchers noticed excess “problem protein” molecules forming clumps – behaviour seen in neurological diseases such as dementia. The researchers also noticed similar clumping occurring in human pancreas samples, suggesting this happens during pancreatic cancer development.
Cancer Research UK Senior Fellow at the Institute of Genetics and Cancer at the University of Edinburgh, Professor Simon Wilkinson, said:
“Our research shows the potential role autophagy disruption plays in the beginnings of pancreatic cancer. While early stage, we can potentially learn from research into other diseases where we see protein clumping, such as dementia, to better understand this aggressive type of cancer and how to prevent it.”
Although survival for many types of cancer has improved over recent decades, this has not been the case for pancreatic cancer. This is partly because it is often diagnosed at a late stage, where treatment options are limited.*** To address this, the researchers wanted to learn more about what may be causing pancreas cells to turn into cancer.
Multiple cancer types, including pancreatic cancer, are linked to a faulty mutation in a gene called KRAS, but scientists are increasingly learning that genetic changes are not the whole story.
One of the ways cells keep people healthy is by breaking down excess molecules they no longer need, through a recycling process called “autophagy”. Autophagy is particularly important in the pancreas to control the level of digestive proteins and hormones the pancreas produces to help break down food.
Scientists have studied autophagy in detail over many years and are learning the key role it plays in diseases such as cancer. In some cases, cancer cells can become “addicted” to autophagy, hijacking the recycling process to help cancer cells divide and grow more quickly****.
This research, on the other hand, suggests the combined effect of the faulty KRAS gene and disrupted autophagy could be driving the development of pancreatic cancer. The researchers plan to study these processes in more detail, to see if they can help predict or possibly reverse the start of pancreatic cancer, and if factors like age, sex, or diet play a role.
Executive Director of Research and Innovation at Cancer Research UK, Dr Iain Foulkes, said:
“Around 10,500 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the UK each year and, sadly, too many of those cases are found at a stage where treatment options are limited. While further work is needed, these findings could provide vital clues into how we can better understand how pancreatic cancer develops.”
Research into pancreatic cancer is one of Cancer Research UK’s top priorities. We fund research into the causes of pancreatic cancer, tests to diagnose the disease, and clinical trials designed to look at improving treatment, reducing side effects, and controlling symptoms***.
The paper, titled “ER-phagy and proteostasis defects prime pancreatic epithelial state changes in KRAS-mediated oncogenesis” was published today (15 August) in Developmental Cell**.
ENDS
Professor Simon Wilkinson and other Cancer Research UK spokespeople are available for interview. For media enquiries, contact Fiona Scott in the Cancer Research UK press office via fiona.scott@cancer.org.uk or on 020 3469 5128 and, out of hours, on 020 3469 8301.
Notes to Editor
*Pancreatic cancer statistics. Cancer Research UK. https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/statistics-by-cancer-type/pancreatic-cancer. Accessed July 2025.
**The paper will be available from here when the embargo lifts. An accepted version of the paper is available on request.
***Research into pancreatic cancer. Cancer Research UK. https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/pancreatic-cancer/research-clinical-trials/pancreatic-cancer. Accessed July 2025.
****Pimentel et al. Autophagy and cancer therapy. Cancer Letter. 2024. doi: 10.1016/j.canlet.2024.217285.
About Cancer Research UK:
Cancer Research UK is the world’s leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research, influence, and information.
Cancer Research UK’s pioneering work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has helped save millions of lives.
Cancer Research UK has been at the heart of the progress that has already seen survival in the UK double in the last 50 years.
Today, 2 in 4 people survive their cancer for at least 10 years. Cancer Research UK wants to accelerate progress and see 3 in 4 people surviving their cancer by 2034.
Cancer Research UK supports research into the prevention and treatment of cancer through the work of over 4,000 scientists, doctors, and nurses.
Together with its partners and supporters, Cancer Research UK is working towards a world where people can live longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer.
For further information about Cancer Research UK's work or to find out how to support the charity, please call 0300 123 1022 or visit www.cancerresearchuk.org. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook
END
The medical pros of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are being exaggerated while the risks are being downplayed, suggest the findings of a survey on the type of information patients and their relatives/friends recall having been given before the procedure, and published online in the Journal of Medical Ethics.
Based on the responses, the researchers calculate that patients were nearly 4 times more likely to recall being told that resulting memory problems were temporary rather than long term. And they were 6 times more likely ...
SGLT-2 inhibitor and GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs should be used in all or almost all adults with type 2 diabetes at higher risk of cardiovascular and kidney complications, and in the majority of adults at moderate risk of complications, say a panel of international experts in The BMJ today.
But for those at lower risk, they advise against routinely recommending these drugs, and suggest doctors discuss treatment options with their patients, noting that decisions are likely to be more contextual and based on what’s most important to the individual.
For ...
A large international study has found that spironolactone, a medication for high blood pressure and heart failure, does not reduce the risk of heart-related death or hospitalizations in people with kidney failure receiving dialysis, despite earlier smaller studies suggesting benefit.
The findings were published on August 14 in The Lancet and presented at ERA Congress 2025.
The study enrolled 2,538 participants from 143 dialysis centres across 12 countries, making it the largest trial to date on spironolactone ...
*Embargoed links to the paper, regional data, and additional quotes are available at the end of this press release*
IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON PRESS RELEASE
Peer Reviewed / Observational study / People
An analysis of suicide rates in England has shown how factors like deprivation and transport density are linked to regional increases in suicide risk.
The first of its kind study, led by researchers at Imperial College London, UCL and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), looked at suicide trends in England from 2002 to 2022 combined with the ...
Tiny pond worms could help find new ways to treat schizophrenia, develop understanding around drug addiction and test new medicines for mental illnesses – all while reducing the number of mice and rats used in early medical research.
Scientists from the University of Reading say that planaria - harmless flatworms found in ponds and rivers - react to brain medicines in ways similar to rodents. When given haloperidol, a drug used to treat mental health conditions, the worms became much less active, ...
In Ho Yong Chung’s laboratory, magic is at work — plants turn into plastics.
In new research, Chung, an associate professor in the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, showed for the first time the possibility of using lignin, a material found in plant cell walls, and carbon dioxide to create a new kind of polyurethane, a polymer used in various applications for its ability to regulate heat, flexibility during processing and strength as a finished product.
The work was published in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering.
“We’ve ...
Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah (the U) announces leadership team appointments overseeing clinical and research efforts in theranostics, an innovative approach to radiation treatment for cancer that combines diagnostics and therapeutics.
Heloisa Soares, MD, PhD, Huntsman Cancer Institute medical oncologist and associate professor of internal medicine at the U, will serve as medical director of the theranostics program.
Theranostics is a powerful new way to both find and treat cancer. It uses radioactive drugs—called radiopharmaceuticals—that ...
Most people picture a doctor checking for a broken bone when they think of an X-ray. But the technology is just as important in places like airport security, manufacturing, quality control and scientific research, each with its own criteria for size and shape.
A team led by Florida State University Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Biwu Ma has developed a new form for X-ray materials that can meet the needs of large-area applications, changing out complex crystal structures for an adaptable and scalable thin-film detector. The work was published in Angewandte Chemie.
“We took a material we developed and made it better,” Ma said. “This ...
CHICAGO — August 14, 2025 — The 66th Supplement to the American Ornithological Society’s (AOS’s) Check-list of North American Birds, published today in Ornithology, includes several significant updates to the classification of bird species found in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.
A few highlights from the supplement, detailed below, include species splits for Myiarchus nuttingi, Vireo gilvus, and Larus argentatus; the addition of subfamilies in the Laridae for white-terns and noddies; and a merging of three families ...
Canadian-grown wheat, canola and peas have some of the lowest carbon footprints in the world—so low that, in some cases, they could be shipped to Europe 17 times before matching the emissions of the same crops grown there.
The study out of UBC Okanagan, published in Nature Food, compared the carbon footprints of these crops from Canada, France, Germany, Australia and the United States using the ISO 14067 standard.
Led by Dr. Nicole Bamber of UBCO’s Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science, the research ...
