Hope for new treatments after researchers find spread of disease is aided by shutting down of molecules in key genes

Scientists have made a crucial DNA discovery that could help cure one of the deadliest cancers.

A team of researchers from the UK and US have found that pancreatic cancer is able to shut down molecules in one of the body’s most important genes, helping the disease to grow and spread rapidly.

Pancreatic cancer is the 12th most common cancer worldwide, with more than half a million people diagnosed every year. It has the worst survival rates of all the most common forms of the disease.

The deadly nature of pancreatic cancer has stumped experts for years but the breakthrough offers hope in the hunt for a treatment that could wipe out the disease.