A new finding has the potential to transform cancer treatment, particularly pancreatic cancer, which is one of the most aggressive and toughest to treat. A team of Italian researchers from the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart and the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston has discovered the "engine" responsible for the tumor's aggressiveness: the metamorphosis of cancer cells from epithelial to mesenchymal. The epithelial-mesenchymal transition allows cancer cells to multiply more quickly and escape control. The process is notably prominent in pancreatic tumors, but it also occurs in a wide range of other types of cancer. The discovery, reported in the journal 'Nature', provides fresh hope for designing treatments that exclusively target mesenchymal cells, depriving the tumor of its primary source of aggressiveness. According to Giampaolo Tortora, head of Fondazione Policlinico Gemelli Irccs' Comprehensive Cancer Center, this research could lead to new diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities, such as the development of biomarkers to recognize the plasticity of cancer cells and tailor therapies accordingly.