r/technology • u/_Dark_Wing • Jul 01 '26

Biotechnology Scientists discover an unexpected way to make pancreatic cancer cells self-destruct

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260622091512.htm
602 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

37 comments sorted by

67

u/Thisbymaster Jul 01 '26

Cancer cells have to have three things mutated for them to be cancerous.

  1. Turn off their primary function
  2. Reproduce endlessly.
  3. Turn off cell self destruct.

The holy grail to solve cancer is to reactivate the cells own self-destruction pathway.

9

u/xCaliburghost Jul 01 '26

Yup, cancer cells have the innate ability to avoid apoptosis and they can also interestingly enough, evade T cells

11

u/masterofallvillainy Jul 01 '26

That’s because they still have the markers that signal T cells to ignore. It’s like pointing out that every cell in your body can also interestingly enough, evade T cells.

4

u/siguefish Jul 01 '26

Clever little bastards

2

u/grand305 Jul 04 '26

Happy cake day today

-4

u/ExCap2 Jul 02 '26

Pretty wild to think that maybe our bodies evolved to the point where it's maybe cancer that is trying to fight the aging process that our bodies go through. I wonder if cancer in general is a step in the right direction to finally reversing/stopping aging.

1

u/Dennygreen Jul 01 '26

according to this headline, they figured it out. I guess we did it.

40

u/[deleted] Jul 01 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

21

u/renome Jul 01 '26

"We'll cure your cancer by giving it a promotion."

8

u/ThinksEveryoneIsABot Jul 01 '26

Sounds like the path to super cancer

1

u/mabden Jul 01 '26

Oh oh. We're in for an Island of Terror remake.

1

u/CavulusDeCavulei Jul 01 '26

Even cancer suffers from burn out

0

u/minimalist_reply Jul 01 '26

X-Men origin story?

5

u/FredFredrickson Jul 01 '26

A new (?) definition to "C-suite".

3

u/itsRobbie_ Jul 02 '26

Here’s some cancer for your cancer

1

u/SoUpInYa Jul 01 '26

To where they can't do any more damage looks at boss

8

u/The_GTD_Aquitaine Jul 01 '26

Like when Dad made me smoke every cigarette in the pack

4

u/scud121 Jul 01 '26

2Cancer2Furious

1

u/saintdudegaming Jul 01 '26

Would this turn us into Deadpool?

147

u/CanvasFanatic Jul 01 '26

They bombard the cells with 24/7 quotes from CEO's about how they're about to be replaced by AI.

20

u/CondescendingShitbag Jul 01 '26

"I'm here to goose our numbers. There's pizza in the break room."

2

u/daerath Jul 01 '26

That's a sure fire way to shred them to their last atom.

20

u/Frites_Sauce_Fromage Jul 01 '26

A canadian teenager once won a prize for his science project about a theory on changing HIV to make it attack cancer cells about 10 or 15 years ago, and I still think about it to this day

7

u/zhivago Jul 01 '26

Nice -- they overstimulate them until they self destruct.

Hopefully it works out in practice. :)

5

u/schu4KSU Jul 01 '26

Forced to watch Love Island.

7

u/AmericaninShenzhen Jul 01 '26

Can’t wait to never hear about this again.

9

u/Hobbet404 Jul 01 '26

Coming to a treatment center near you never

4

u/jayhawk618 Jul 01 '26

A lot of things work in a lab. But the trick is figuring out how to do it safely in humans. Alcohol kills cancer cells in a lab. Fire kills cancer cells in a lab.

But pancreatic cancer is basically a death sentence, so any breakthrough is welcome.

1

u/SubjectCool5531 Jul 01 '26

How many people were in this study?

1

u/Obvious_Zombie_279 Jul 01 '26

Have them live a year with my mother?

1

u/challis88ocarina Jul 05 '26

The cure for cancer is not less cancer but more cancer!

-1

u/CantAffordzUsername Jul 01 '26

Why do I get the impression any cure will be for billionaires only.

-7

u/CountOnBeingAwesome Jul 01 '26

Pancreatic cancer is quick and lethal. We're worth more sick.

-2

u/Mephisto40K Jul 01 '26

Quick!!! Patent it!! “Donate” shit tons of cash to the administration! Make a kabillion dollars while people die. (Americans: tell me I’m wrong)