A new study published in scientific journal Nature Communications distinguishes the reason for extended pancreatic cancer survival: an inverse correlation between a known oncogene, a gene that promotes the development of cancer, and the expression of an oncosuppressor microRNA.
Though 75 percent of pancreatic cancer patients die within 12 months of diagnosis, about 7% survive more than five years. “We thought that if we could understand how some people live several years with this most aggressive disease, we might be able to develop a new therapeutic strategy,” said lead researcher Prof. Ronit Satchi-Fainaro, chair of physiology and pharmacology at Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine.