Study Ties Obesity and Diabetes to Pancreatic Cancer via Six Inflammatory Genes

The work highlights shared immune signals with potential to guide risk checks toward targeted therapy.

Overview

Researchers report in Cancer Medicine that six genes — ITGAM, PECAM1, CCL5, STAT1, STAT2, and CD44 — show higher activity in metabolic disease and are also linked to pancreatic cancer recurrence.
Single‑cell sequencing of patient tumors found a group of immune cells, including macrophages and monocytes, with especially high levels of these genes, pointing to a tumor microenvironment driver.
The study, funded by the UK Medical Research Council and Arthritis UK through the NIHR Birmingham center, combined large human and mouse datasets with tumor‑level and laboratory tests.
The authors say the signals could help flag patients at higher risk of relapse and could steer therapies toward these immune and inflammation pathways, though clinical use will require further trials.
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is often detected late, has few treatment options, and recurs in about 80% of patients after surgery, with obesity and type 2 diabetes already known risk factors.