Proteins controlling cells may be key to cancer

London: Scientists have pinpointed a possible reason why pancreatic cancer is such an aggressive disease.

A University of Liverpool team found a family of proteins involved in controlling cell movement could be key.

The study, which appears in the journal Gut, could offer a new lead on a disease which is hard to treat.

Symptoms include abdominal pain, weight loss over a period of months and nausea. It also affects appetite, makes the sufferer feel incredibly weak, and jaundiced.

There are around 7,000 cases of pancreatic cancer in the UK each year. It can be hard to spot as the pancreas is located deep inside the body. As a result, although surgery can potentially cure the disease, only 9 per cent of patients go under the knife.

Tissue samples

The Liverpool team were able to track the proteins, called CapG and Gelsolin, in tissue samples from normal and cancerous cells.

They found abnormally high concentrations of both proteins in the tumour tissue.

As both CapG and Gelsolin are known to have roles in regulating cell movement, the study suggests they may facilitate the spread of pancreatic cancer cells to other areas of the body.

The researchers reduced the amounts of CapG and Gelsolin in pancreatic cancer cells in the laboratory - and found this limited the cells' ability to spread.

They also found pancreatic cancer patients had better prospects when the level of Gelsolin protein was low or undetectable.