A new study has revealed insights into how inhibiting a cellular molecule could help thwart the onset of alcohol-related pancreatic cancer, potentially adding to doctors’ understanding of how booze causes the deadly illness.
Published in the medical journal Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the findings explain in more detail how CREB, a DNA-binding protein previously linked to cancer of the pancreas, contributes to disease setting in.
”Our model serves as an important platform for understanding how chronic inflammation related to alcohol consumption accelerates the development of pancreatic cancer,” says University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center cancer biologist Dr Siddharth Mehra.
”Chronic, high alcohol use damages acinar cells in the pancreas, [which are] specialised cells that produce digestive enzymes,” Dr Mehra and colleagues say, explaining that the impact, in turn, increases inflammation and exacerbates damage to the pancreas.
”Over time, precancerous lesions can develop, increasing the risk for full-blown pancreatic cancer – one of the deadliest types of tumours,” the researchers warn.
But the findings bring with them some hope that related treatments could be developed.
”Targeting CREB may present a promising strategy to mitigate inflammation-driven pancreatic tumourigenesis,” the team say in their journal paper.
”We believe this study lays the groundwork for future translational efforts targeting CREB as a therapeutic vulnerability in inflammation-associated pancreatic cancer,” says study co-author and Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center Surgical Oncology Research Programs director Dr Nipun Merchant. – dpa
