New Molecule Reduces Growth of Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer is deadly and is one of the most difficult cancers to treat. Researchers have identified a way to damage the process which promotes the growth of pancreatic cancers. The study published in the journal Gastroenterology was led by scientists at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center along with investigators from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, STCube and Fluidigm.

According to the American Cancer Society pancreatic cancer will soon be the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the US.

Most people die within a year of diagnosis. The therapies which are currently approved to treat cancer are less effective and extend survival by only a few months.

One of the characteristic features of the disease is the build-up of scar tissue called fibrosis. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF) which trigger fibrosis play a tricky dual role as the depletion of CAF is just as likely to promote as it can inhibit pancreatic cancer.

Lead author of the study Ivana Peran, PhD, a research instructor of oncology at Georgetown Lombardi said, “We hypothesized that if we can alter the microenvironment where cross-talk between the fibroblasts, immune cells and cancer cells happens, then we can cause just enough disruption to push back tumor growth.”

To do this, the team studied the adhesion molecule cadherin 11 (CDH11). CDH11 is expressed by CAFs in the pancreatic tumor environment. It is also associated with other fibrotic disorders where activated fibroblasts express this molecule. The researchers tried to stop CDH11 in tumors growing in mice.

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The hypothesis was correct and the team showed that CDH11 is important in the natural history of pancreatic cancer. By eliminating the ability of mice to produce CDH11 reduced the growth of pancreatic tumors. It also increased cancer’s response to gemcitabine, which is common chemotherapy. It also reduced immunosuppression and increased survival in mice.

Stephen Byers, PhD professor of oncology at Georgetown Lombardi said, “Separately, we have identified a drug that can inhibit CDH11. This drug also inhibited the growth of pancreatic tumors and taken together with our earlier work, this finding warrants study in human clinical trials for people with pancreatic cancer whose tumors express CDH11.”

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Source-Medindia