Cancer research discovery shows promising results in diabetes prevention and treatment

Can diabetes be cured? We’ve been looking for a hopeful and positive answer to this question for a long time. Type 1 diabetes, a lifelong autoimmune disease, has long been considered incurable.

However, a breakthrough during recent research might alter the way we approach the treatment of type 1 diabetes.

What is Type 1 Diabetes?

Type 1 diabetes is a chronic autoimmune disease where the body's immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. This leads to little to no insulin production, requiring individuals to take insulin daily to manage their blood sugar levels.Type 1 diabetes is often diagnosed in children and young adults.

Around 1.3 million Americans live with this condition. While the cause is linked to genetics and other environmental factors, there is currently no cure.However, there might still be hope to prevent the lifelong disease.

In a surprising scientific twist, researchers at the Mayo Clinic have found that a molecule known for helping cancer cells escape the immune system could be used to treat type 1 diabetes, a condition where the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy insulin-producing cells.

Originally studied in cancer research, this molecule may help prevent the destruction of pancreatic beta cells, the very cells that type 1 diabetes targets.

What the research uncovers: A cancer molecule with an unexpected promise

The breakthrough began with cancer research. Cancer cells often hide from the immune system by coating themselves in a sugar molecule called sialic acid. Dr. Virginia Shapiro, the lead researcher and immunology expert at Mayo Clinic, and her team wondered: What if this sugar shield could help protect healthy cells instead?In earlier research, Dr.

Shapiro’s group identified an enzyme called ST8Sia6, which helps tumor cells produce more sialic acid on their surfaces. This sugar layer makes cancer cells look “normal” to the immune system, allowing them to escape attack.“The expression of this enzyme basically ‘sugar coats’ cancer cells and can help protect an abnormal cell from a normal immune response,” said Dr. Shapiro, as reported by Medical Xpress. He added, “We wondered if the same enzyme might also protect a normal cell from an abnormal immune response.”

The way forward: Reprogramming the immune system

In their latest study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, the researchers applied this idea to diabetes. Using lab models that naturally develop autoimmune diabetes, they engineered pancreatic beta cells to produce the ST8Sia6 enzyme. This gave the cells a sugar coating, similar to what cancer cells use to hide.The results were impressive: in these models, the engineered beta cells were 90% effective in preventing the onset of type 1 diabetes.

The cells that are normally destroyed in the disease remained protected.

Key point: Targeted tolerance (without shutting down the immune system)

Even more encouraging was what the researchers saw next. The immune system still worked as usual, fighting off other infections and diseases, but left the beta cells alone.Justin Choe, the study’s first author and a dual-degree M.D.-Ph.D. student at Mayo Clinic, explained, “Though the beta cells were spared, the immune system remained intact,” adding, “We found that the enzyme specifically generated tolerance against autoimmune rejection of the beta cell, providing local and quite specific protection against type 1 diabetes.”This means the technique didn't require broad immune suppression, which is often risky and comes with side effects. Instead, it created a highly targeted tolerance, preventing the immune system from attacking beta cells, and only beta cells.

A new path forward for transplant therapy?

Currently, people with type 1 diabetes must use insulin therapy or undergo a pancreatic islet cell transplant. But transplantation requires immune-suppressing drugs to prevent the body from rejecting the new cells, a process that weakens the entire immune system.Dr. Shapiro believes her team’s findings could lead to better transplant treatments. By engineering beta cells with ST8Sia6, patients might one day receive islet cell transplants without needing full immune suppression.As per Dr. Shapiro, “A goal would be to provide transplantable cells without the need for immunosuppression.” He added, “Though we're still in the early stages, this study may be one step toward improving care.”

What’s ahead?

While the research is still in the preclinical phase, this discovery could mark a major step toward safer and more effective treatments for type 1 diabetes. The team plans to continue testing the technology, eventually moving toward human clinical trials.As of now, their work opens a new chapter in how scientists may retrain the immune system, not just to fight cancer, but to protect the body from turning against itself.