LONDON, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- Pancreatic cancer is one of the most difficult forms of the disease to treat because its symptoms are often not seen until the cancer is at too late a stage.
Researchers have found, however, that they can target stem cells in the cancer using an anti-diabetic drug because it cuts off their ability to power themselves using oxygen. This is different than most cancers, which rely on glycolysis, generating energy with sugar rather than oxygen.
"We might be able to exploit this reliance on oxygen by targeting the stem cells with drugs that are already available, killing the cancer by cutting off its energy supply," said Dr. Patricia Santo, a researcher at Queen Mary University, in a press release. "In the long term, this could mean that pancreatic cancer patients have more treatment options available to them, including a reduced risk of recurrence following surgery and other treatments."
Pancreatic stem cells create energy using a process called oxidative phosphorylation, in which mitochondria use oxygen to power cells. The anti-diabetic drug metformin was found in lab studies to cut off this ability to convert oxygen to energy, effectively "suffocating" the stem cells.
While researchers found the cells could alter their dependence on oxygen, they also found a way to force stem cells to continue using oxygen -- keeping them susceptible to the treatment.
The researchers note that metformin will not cure pancreatic cancer, but think metformin could be used as part of conventional cancer treatment to prevent stem cells in the pancreas from coming back or metastisizing elsewhere in the body.
The study is published in Cell Metabolism.
