(ORDO NEWS) — Researchers at the Rutgers Cancer Institute in New Jersey studied the microbiome of pancreatic tumors and isolated microorganisms closely associated with cancer cells.
According to scientists, these microorganisms can become new targets for earlier diagnosis or treatment of the disease. Pancreatic cancer is one of the most severe oncological diseases.
Pancreatic cancer has a mortality rate of almost 80%.
Researchers at the Rutgers Cancer Institute in New Jersey studied the microbiome of pancreatic tumors and isolated microorganisms closely associated with tumor cells.
According to scientists, these microorganisms can become new targets for early diagnosis or treatment of pancreatic cancer.
The bacteria found by scientists play the role of a kind of protection of tumor cells from the immune system, in particular, which is why pancreatic cancer is so difficult to treat.
Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the US.
Microbes protect the tumor from the immune system
Scientists have studied the microorganisms that live in pancreatic tumors, and tried to find out whether they affect the development of cancer or its treatment.
The study of microbes in tumors is difficult because every patient is different and microbial traces are too thin to be reliably detected.
Researchers have developed a genomic approach to identify microorganisms associated with individual human cells.
By sifting through millions of RNA sequences using sophisticated software, the scientists determined which RNAs are from human cells and which are microbial in origin.
As a result of this arduous and precise study, scientists have discovered bacteria that are found in tumors and are virtually absent in healthy pancreatic tissue.
The number of bacteria was found to be closely related to the activity of tumor cells. Scientists have identified microbial signatures that predict particularly aggressive cancer development and poor prognosis.
At the same time, it turned out that the immune system mainly reacts to microbes in tumors, and not to cancer cells. The tumor is reliably protected from the immune system and from many types of therapy.
“Our observations provide insight into why pancreatic cancer is so difficult to treat,” said co-author Martin Blaser. “But a better understanding of bacterial-cell interactions could lead to new therapeutic approaches.”
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