Scientists Unveiled a Method That Stops Pancreatic Cancer Progression

Daniel Silva
1 min readJan 31, 2022

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Image from Canva

Scientists from the Institute for Research and Innovation in Health, at the University of Porto, unveiled a method that prevents the progression of pancreatic cancer.

They were able to stop the communication between cancer stem cells and other tumor cells. The first ones were giving the seconds “orders for the tumor to grow and resist chemotherapy”, said lead scientist Sónia Melo.

The researchers looked at this communication and found a protein, called Agrin, which, when sent to other cells, drives the tumor to grow and overcome adversities.

Using molecules that inhibit the Agrin protein, the scientists were able to block communication between cells, which in turn stopped the progression of the tumor.

The outcome of this research has potential therapeutic solutions.

It can be applied by clinicians to patients with pancreatic cancer, with the aim of halting tumor progression and minimizing therapeutic resistance.

Inspired by a fellow creator, I decided to challenge myself to publish 100 short-form articles within January. This is article number 47.

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