3D tech boost for cancer research
Scientists have made a breakthrough in pancreatic cancer research thanks to new 3D technology.
The technique, developed by the Francis Cr ick Institute in London, involves tissue samples being studied in 3D models and has revealed that pancreatic cancer can start and grow in two distinct ways.
The results could improve treatment and save lives, researchers say.
Pancreatic cancer is difficult to diagnose and treat. Less than seven per cent of people diagnosed will survive beyond f ive years.
Apple founder Steve Jobs and actors Alan Rickman and Patrick Swayze died of the disease.
The breakthrough was made as a result of a collaboration between two research groups at the Crick, led by Dr Axel Behrens and Dr Guillaume Salbreux.
Behrens said the 3D imaging has helped the team define two types of cancer formation – one that grows outwards and one that grows inwards.
He added: “Now that we know pancreatic cancer can develop in these two ways, we can start looking at whether one is likely to be more aggressive or spread in a different way.
Andrew Biankin, of Cancer Research UK, said it was a “technological breakthrough” that has the potential to “unlock many unanswered questions of great importance in how we understand and treat pancreatic cancer”.