During tests the protein bonded itself to particular DNA strands and was able to reverse the disease by turning cells back to their pre-cancer state.
"For the first time, we have shown that over-expression of a single gene can reduce the tumour-promoting potential of pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells and reprogram them toward their original cell type," said Pamela Itkin-Ansari, lead author of the study.
"Thus, pancreatic cancer cells retain a genetic memory which we hope to exploit."
The E47 protein controls genes responsible for growth and then differentiation.
Adding it to cancerous cells would halt the spread of the disease by regressing them to an earlier state.
When the reprogrammed cells were introduced into mice, scientists observed their ability to form into tumours was greatly reduced.
Scientists believe their discovery could one day help fight pancreatic cancer in humans.
"Our next step is to test primary patient-derived tumor tissue to determine whether E47 can produce similar results, potentially providing a novel therapeutic approach to combating this highly lethal disease,” said Itkin-Ansari.
The research was carried out in the USA by the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute alongside the University of California, San Diego and Purdue University.