Researchers are Offering New Hope to Pancreatic Cancer Patients

Posted by Hollie Williams on November 22nd, 2018

It has been observed that a chemotherapy breakthrough may improve the outcomes for patients with pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer still is among one of the lethal cancers because of a lack of early diagnosis methods and effective treatment options. Its treatment options are limited since the disease is resistant to standard chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The disease is usually diagnosed late, and most patients die within 12 months of diagnosis. But researchers are determined to change this altogether.

Here’s what Australian researchers have been working on:

•    The researchers are investigating therapies for the deadliest form of pancreatic cancer which is pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma – also known as PDA. Pancreatic cancers occur as exocrine tumors or endocrine/neuroendocrine tumors. Exocrine tumors begin in the exocrine cells in the pancreas where the enzymes that help in food digestion are secreted. Approximately 95% of all pancreatic cancers are exocrine tumors, including PDA.

•    Immunotherapy is not effective on PDA because of the unique immune-suppressive features PDA has. The PDA cancer is usually treated using gemcitabine base chemotherapy which has slightly increased survival rates. Researchers found that they could improve this further by manipulating the body’s immune systems to increase its response to chemotherapy.

•    Pancreatic cancer develops through genetic mutations that progress from non-invasive cancers to invasive and metastatic cancers. The K-Ras gene is the most frequent mutation that causes 95% of pancreatic cancer cases. This gene produces a protein known as 21kDa(p21) which binds and activates the kinase enzymes called PAKs. PAKs regulate the environment of cancer, its growth and spread. The researchers targeted the PAKs because they appear to be overactive in most pancreatic cancers making them an ideal target for chemotherapy.

•    They tested the PAK inhibitor PF-3758309 type of chemotherapy and the gemcitabine chemotherapy in mouse models. The PF-3758309 inhibited PDA cell growth and migration on its own. When combined with gemcitabine, it was more effective, and it inhibited the PDA cell growth in mice and in vitro and altered the immune response to the cancer.

Due to this development, the researchers have discovered the potential role of PAKs in the response of the immune system to pancreatic cancers. They are working to develop a combination treatment of PAK targeted therapy with gemcitabine to enhance outcomes for PDA patients by stimulating their own immune system to fight pancreatic cancer.

About Author

The Sandler-Kenner Foundation was started by Gregory A. Echt, M.D. and his wife, Susan T. Echt, after they lost two of their dear friends, Michael and Peter, to premature deaths from pancreatic cancer.