An analysis of nearly half a million cells from dozens of patients’ tumors reveals how cancer cells continuously reshape their genetic makeup over time, enabling them to evade treatment for one of the deadliest forms of cancer.

Led by researchers at NYU Langone Health and its Perlmutter Cancer Center, the study focused on pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, an often difficult-to-treat disease known to kill nearly 85% of people within five years of diagnosis.

While more than half a dozen genes have been implicated in the complex disease, the analysis of single tumor cells provided new insights into how subpopulations of pancreatic cancer cells reconfigure their DNA within tumors over time.