New breakthrough offers hope to type 1 diabetics as study reveals way to protect cells
After identifying a sugar molecule that cancer cells use on their surfaces to hide from the immune system, the researchers have found that the same molecule may eventually help in the treatment of type 1 diabetes, once known as juvenile diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes is a chronic autoimmune condition in which the immune system mistakenly attacks pancreatic beta cells that produce insulin.
The disease is caused by genetic and other factors, and affects an estimated 1.3 million people in the United States. In 2021, an estimated 8.4 million people worldwide were living with it.
No cure currently exists for type 1 diabetes. Photo: Shutterstock
In their studies, the Mayo Clinic researchers took a cancer mechanism and turned it on its head.
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