Overview

• Researchers at The Institute of Cancer Research linked higher SPP1 levels in 644 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma tumours to advanced disease and poorer outcomes.
• Switching off the gene for SPP1 in lab-grown organoids produced fewer and smaller tumours compared with models where the protein was present.
• In mouse experiments, disabling SPP1 prevented tumour spread and extended survival, with none of the control mice living past 50 days versus 20% of SPP1-deficient mice surviving to 400 days.
• Blocking SPP1 raised levels of the protein GREM1, a potential pathway clue associated with reduced pancreatic cancer spread.
• The findings, funded by the ICR and Breast Cancer Now, underscore urgent need in a cancer where most UK patients are diagnosed at stage four and many receive no active treatment.