Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers, mainly because it grows aggressively and is difficult to treat with current therapies. However, a new study published in Nature by researchers from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and HI-STEM has found a new treatment approach—blocking nerve connections to stop tumor growth and improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
How Nerves Help Pancreatic Cancer Grow
Researchers have discovered that pancreatic cancer interacts with the nervous system to grow and spread. The tumor does this by reprogramming nearby nerve cells, changing their activity to support cancer growth instead of normal body functions.
These nerve cells also stimulate cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), which form a large part of the tumor and help it resist immune attacks. Even after surgery, these nerve connections remain active, making it easier for cancer to return.
Cutting Nerve Connections to Stop Tumor Growth
The study showed that blocking nerve connections could slow tumor growth significantly. When researchers cut the nerve connections to the pancreas in mice:
✅ Tumor growth slowed down
✅ Cancer-promoting genes became less active
✅ Fibroblasts became pro-inflammatory, making the immune system stronger
This suggests that nerves play a key role in protecting pancreatic cancer, and cutting them could make it more vulnerable to treatment.
Boosting Immunotherapy with Nerve Blockade
Pancreatic cancer is usually considered “immune-cold”, meaning that immune cells struggle to reach the tumor and attack it effectively. Because of this, immunotherapy drugs like checkpoint inhibitors (such as nivolumab) have not worked well against pancreatic cancer.
However, when researchers blocked nerve connections in mice with pancreatic tumors, the tumors became sensitive to immunotherapy, allowing checkpoint inhibitors to shrink the tumor to one-sixth of its original size.
This breakthrough suggests that blocking nerve signals could turn pancreatic cancer into an “immune-sensitive” tumor, making immunotherapy a more effective option.
Combining Nerve Blockade with Chemotherapy for Better Results
Standard chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer includes the drug nab-paclitaxel, which can also damage sensory nerves. The researchers found that:
📌 Nab-paclitaxel treatment alone reduced sensory nerves in the tumor but did not fully block cancer-promoting nerve signals.
📌 When combined with a neurotoxin to block sympathetic nerves, the tumor shrank by over 90%.
This means that a dual nerve-blocking strategy could significantly enhance the effectiveness of chemotherapy and immunotherapy in fighting pancreatic cancer.
A New Hope for Pancreatic Cancer Treatment
The study suggests that completely blocking nerve-tumor communication—along with chemotherapy and immunotherapy—could be a game-changing approach to treating pancreatic cancer.
🔬 Future clinical trials are already being planned to test this strategy in pancreatic cancer patients. If successful, this method could help shrink tumors, make them easier to remove with surgery, and improve long-term survival rates.
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