A new door has opened to treatments for one of the deadliest cancers: pancreatic cancer. Researchers at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) have, for the first time, completely eliminated pancreatic tumors in experimental mouse models using a triple therapeutic combination. The study focused on pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, the most common type of tumor. The researchers devised a strategy that targets three key aspects of this cancer: the mutation that initiates the tumor (called KRAS) and the two proteins involved that promote the proliferation, survival, and growth of this cancer (called EGFR and STAT3). After six years of work, the curative efficacy of this triple therapy has been demonstrated. The results have been published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

What determines whether a mammal is male or female? Until now, science has only had one answer: genetics. For example, metabolic factors. Specifically, iron deficiency in the mother during pregnancy can profoundly affect some mouse offspring and eventually cause sex reversal. programmed A mouse that has no testicles may end up developing ovaries for a seemingly trivial reason. Researchers reproduced a deficient iron concentration—around 60% below normal levels—in female mice that were, a priori, pregnant with males, and observed that 6 of the 39 offspring were born with ovaries. Led by Makoto Tachibana of Osaka University, the research It was published this Wednesday in the magazine Nature and represents a first step in investigating the effects of iron deficiency on human pregnancies.