The scar tissue that forms around pancreatic cancer tumors can provide insight into the patient’s prognosis.
Scar tissue that forms around pancreatic cancer tumors could provide insight into the patient’s prognosis, according to a recent study published in Cell Reports Medicine.
“Previous studies have focused on the cancer cells themselves, or the amount of fibrosis or scarring surrounding the tumor,” said study author Jason Guo, a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford Medicine. , in a press release. “But our results reveal that the critical information may not come from the amount or mass of scar tissue, but from its internal components and organization.”
Researchers analyzed the architecture of the extracellular matrix (ECM) (non-cellular components surrounding the tumor) around 437 cases of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and found that certain ECM patterns were linked to disease-free survival (time after treatment without any signs of cancer). is found) and overall survival (time from treatment to death from any cause).
The results showed that, based on the characteristics of the scar tissue around the tumors, patients can be grouped into two categories, one of which included patients with a median survival almost two years longer than the other group. . According to the press release, this is a “substantial difference,” since approximately 20 to 25 percent of patients tend to survive five years after diagnosis.
“Our study brings new therapeutic approaches to the table,” Professor of Surgery Dr. Michael Longaker, Deane P. and Louise Mitchell Professor in the School of Medicine and senior author of the study, said in the release. “Should we treat not only the tumor but also the scar tissue? I would say yes. Both obviously play a role in patient outcomes.
The results of this study indicate that scar tissue around tumors may play a role in promoting or discouraging the growth of cancer cells. As such, the discovery of new drugs that block this tissue-tumor message could provide a new option to explore.
“Pro-inflammatory fibroblasts also showed up in our scans, which we were happy to see,” Guo said. “Elimination of these fibroblasts or inhibition of their activity constitutes a potential target for new therapies. We also observed close relationships between B cells and these fibroblasts, which is interesting. What are they talking about? We would love to follow up and see what cellular signals are being exchanged.
This isn’t the first time researchers have looked at the materials surrounding a tumor to determine cancer prognosis. In fact, another recent study analyzed how healthy tissue surrounding lung tumors might contain genetic information that holds clues to patients’ risk of recurrence.
LEARN MORE:Healthy tissues “hold important clues” about the risk of cancer recurrence
“In the future, I imagine a patient will have a biopsy before treatment begins and doctors will look not only at the cancer, but also at the patterns and cell types of the desmoplasia (fibrous tissue surrounding the cancer) ” Longaker said. . “It could also help doctors decide which patients are likely to need more aggressive treatment early in the course of their disease and which might be spared invasive or severe chemotherapy or radiotherapy.” I hope we can develop a chemotherapeutic approach that not only focuses on cancer, but also impacts fibroblasts and their role in promoting tumor growth.
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