Genomic analyses identify molecular subtypes of pancreatic cancer

Australian and Scottish researchers, in collaboration with other important research groups, published, in the prestigious journal “Nature”, the genomic analysis of 456 patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

The development of the tumor, from healthy cell to cancer cell, involves a number of genetic and molecular changes. These changes are different in terms of type and frequency. Using genomic analysis, the researchers were able to identify four subtypes of pancreatic cancer, called:

• squamous-type
• pancreatic progenitor
• immunogenic
• aberrantly differentiated endocrine exocrine

Based on the molecular characteristics of each tumor is possible to identify a specific therapeutic treatment for each subtype. For example in the case of “immunogenic” subtype of the tumor, the use of immunotherapy could represent the right therapeutic approach.
These important results represents the most detailed analysis ever carried out to date in a large sample of patients. An important contribution to this discovery comes from Italy; In fact, the Pancreas Institute in Verona is once again in the front line in fighting pancreatic cancer.

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