Nature 558, 600–604 (2018)

Wasting of peripheral tissue is an early sign of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and could be used to aid early diagnosis of the disease.

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Steve Gschmeissner/Science Source

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is associated with peripheral tissue wasting resulting in a severe reduction in quality of life in affected individuals, but its cause and role in mortality are unclear.

Researchers based in Boston find in mouse models of PDAC and in humans that both adipose and muscle wasting occurs at early stages of the disease. They attribute this to pancreatic enzyme secretion loss in mice, but surprisingly in both mouse models and humans, this doesn’t seem to contribute to mortality. The tissue wasting could potentially be used as an early diagnostic for the disease.