Turing-inspired drug combats pancreatic cancer ‘within days’

PANCREATIC cancer may be reversed by a so-called “gremlin” therapy, scientists have found.

Early results suggest a gene and a protein, known as Grem1, or “gremlin”, could be pivotal in controlling and combatting pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer has a notoriously high mortality rate, with just 7 per cent of patients surviving for five years or more. Every year, more than 10,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with the disease and it accounts for around 9,000 annual deaths.

Scientists from the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) conducted studies in mice and on mini pancreases made in a laboratory and manipulated the level of the “gremlin” protein in the system.

When the gene, and therefore the protein, was eliminated, tumours were rapidly converted into a more dangerous and invasive form. In a matter of days, every tumour cell had been converted from the more harmless form into the more dangerous mesenchymal cancer cells.

The absence of “gremlin” also meant the cancer was more likely to spread to other organs. Nine out of 10 gremlinless mice, for example, had their cancer spread from the pancreas into the liver.

By contrast, when the gremlin protein was working normally, only 15 per cent of the laboratory animals saw the cancer spread.

As well as curtailing Grem1 production, the scientists also boosted the concentration of the protein to far beyond the normal level and found this has a beneficial effect.

Writing in their study, published in the journal Nature, the scientists said the Gremlin protein, in high quantities, “caused almost complete” reversal of cells that had already morphed into the more dangerous guise.

This, they say, indicates that high Grem1 activity is able to “reverse the fate” of the dangerous cells. Further analysis revealed that Grem1 is also controlled by another chemical, called BMP2, and that this molecule regulates how much Gremlin protein is made.

The two molecules work in tandem to control how pancreatic cancer develops as part of what the researchers call a “self-inhibitory feedback loop”.

The mathematical principles underpinning this were first predicted by Alan Turing 70 years ago, mere years after he cracked the Enigma code which helped defeat the Nazis. “Further studies will be required to investigate whether the Turing model extends to other cancer types,” the study said.

Though still at an early stage, and in need of much future research and funding, the team said it is a crucial first step towards fighting what is one of the most lethal forms of cancer.

Dr Chris Macdonald, head of research at Pancreatic Cancer UK, told The Daily Telegraph: “Tragically, 80 per cent of people currently receive a terminal diagnosis. We have known for some time that there are different populations of cells that initiate pancreatic cancer: some that drive a very aggressive cancer, and others that produce a more stable form less likely to spread.

“This research has shown the potential to actively switch pancreatic cancer cells to the less aggressive form, confining the disease to the pancreas where it can be more easily targeted with surgery and focused therapies we currently have in our armoury.

“This could give many more people the very best chance of survival.”