Longevity science

University of Pennsylvania scientists have used stem-cell technology to create a research cell line from a patient with advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma(PDAC).

This first-of-its-kind human-cell model of pancreatic cancer progression was published this week in Cell Reports from the lab of Ken Zaret, PhD, professor of Cell and Developmental Biology.

"It is the first example using induced pluripotent stem [iPS] cells to model cancer progression directly from a solid tumor, and the first human cell line that can model pancreatic cancer progression from early to invasive stages," says Zaret, also the associate director of the Penn Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

While the overall lung cancer five-year survival rate in the U.S. is 15 percent, the odds of survival increase significantly with early detection. However, the expense or invasiveness of current screening methods and the lack of symptoms at early stages of the disease means most people aren’t diagnosed until the cancer is well advanced.

Findings by researchers at the University of York could pave the way for a simple blood test that would detect the disease even in its early stages.

Physicians may soon have a new way to screen patients for Barrett's esophagus, a precancerous condition usually caused by chronic exposure to stomach acid. Researchers at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have developed an imaging system enclosed in a capsule about the size of a multivitamin pill that creates detailed, microscopic images of the esophageal wall.

The system has several advantages over traditional endoscopy.