The study’s results may mean early warning for the aggressive and lethal disease and might lead to better treatment therapies.

Researchers at the UC San Diego School of Medicine in La Jolla have identified a link between stress and inflammation and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, one of the most aggressive and lethal types of cancer.

The findings, published July 22 in Cell Reports, could serve as an early warning system for the disease, leading to the detection of PDAC before it becomes life-threatening.

Previous studies have shown that inflammation and cellular stress activate a protein called STAT3 in pancreas cells, promoting tumor initiation, adaptation to stress and resistance to treatment.

The new study furthers understanding of how STAT3 operates, revealing that in some cancer cells, STAT3 is able to activate specific genes critical for adaptation to stress and inflammation.

The researchers also found STAT3 induces the expression of 10 genes, representing a gene signature dubbed “STRESS” that predicts the outcome of pancreas cancer.

These findings can be applied to precision medicine, the scientists believe, used to develop early screening tools that recognize precancerous cells. It could also help clinicians identify which patients are more likely to develop aggressive cancers and which ones will respond better to traditional pancreatic cancer treatment.