A team of Italian scientists have found one of the engines that drive cancer of the pancreas, one of the most aggressive tumours, in a discovery that has enabled them to identify a therapeutic target to hopefully slow the advance of the disease. The research has been led by Milan's Istituto San Raffaele, with the Istituto Telethon of gene therapy and the Università Vita e Salute.

Also working on the project were the universities of Turin and Verona, the French Institute For Health and Medical Research, the Biopolis research centre in Singapore and the University of Shanghai. Favouring the growth of this form of tumour which is still sadly very lethal, the ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas, is a special alliance between a particular type of immune cells, called IL-1beta+ macrophages, and some very aggressive tumour cells, known for being linked to inflammation.