Inside Precision Medicine July 25, 2025
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the deadliest cancers, largely because its tumors are surrounded by dense, fibrous tissue that blocks immune cells and limits drug delivery. But research from Sanford Burnham Prebys, published in Cancer Cell, shows that cutting off a major nutrient supply rewires this protective environment, allowing therapies to work better.
Starving the tumor changes its neighborhood
Tumors do not grow in isolation—they are embedded in a tumor microenvironment of immune cells, connective tissue, and fibroblasts (cells that produce structural proteins like collagen). In PDAC, most of these fibroblasts turn into a type known as myofibroblastic cancer-associated fibroblasts (myCAFs), which make the tissue stiff and difficult for immune cells or drugs to penetrate.
The study, led...
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