A novel therapeutic strategy can block self-eating in pancreatic tumors, one of the deadliest cancers and can also cut off the tumor's other energy sources, reveals a research team from University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.
To get the extra energy they need to fuel their uncontrolled growth, cancer cells break down some of their own parts for fuel - a process known as autophagy, or "self-eating."
A New Treatment for Pancreatic Cancer Using Anti-Cholesterol Drugs
A class of drugs previously developed to treat atherosclerosis could be repurposed for treatment of pancreatic cancer and other forms of cancer.
Advertisement
‘ERK inhibitor can prevent the cancer cells from relying on other energy sources, driving it towards autophagy.’
Tweet it Now
The scientists are reporting preclinical findings for a potential two-treatment strategy to block multiple mechanisms of cancer cell metabolism in pancreatic cancer at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting in Chicago. The findings will be presented from 8 a.m. to noon on Wednesday.
"We know that cancer cells have a greater need for energy than normal cells," said UNC Lineberger's Channing Der, PhD, Sarah Graham Kenan Distinguished Professor in the UNC School of Medicine Department of Pharmacology.
![Antibiotics to Aid Chemotherapy in Treatment of Pancreatic Tumors]( "Antibiotics to Aid Chemotherapy in Treatment of Pancreatic Tumors")
Antibiotics to kill bacteria that degrade chemotherapy drug proved effective in reducing progression of pancreatic cancer in mice.
"They get their energy by changing normal metabolic processes to allow them to generate more energy, and one of these processes is self-eating. Basically what a cancer cell does is it does this more efficiently than a normal cell."
In other studies, pancreatic cancer cells have been known to rely more heavily on autophagy, but UNC Lineberger scientists reported evidence that a type of treatment -- an ERK inhibitor -- actually increased their reliance on this. The scientists believe the compound prevents the cell from relying on other energy sources, driving it toward autophagy.
"The cancer cell has many ways to achieve what it wants in terms of getting more energy," Der said. "We find that if you try to stop one, a cancer cell has the ability to compensate. I think the analogy many of us use is the 'whack-a-mole' concept where you knock one thing down, and something else pops up. We need more than one hammer basically."
To block multiple energy sources at once, the scientists used an ERK inhibitor to cut off these other energy sources, alongside with an investigational compound used to block autophagy, in the hopes of starving the cells completely. They reported at AACR that this co-treatment showed a synergistic effect.
"What if we could cripple more than one energy sources for the cell at once?" Der said.
Source: Eurekalert
Antibiotics to Aid Chemotherapy in Treatment of Pancreatic Tumors
Antibiotics to kill bacteria that degrade chemotherapy drug proved effective in reducing progression of pancreatic cancer in mice.
Advertisement
"They get their energy by changing normal metabolic processes to allow them to generate more energy, and one of these processes is self-eating. Basically what a cancer cell does is it does this more efficiently than a normal cell."
In other studies, pancreatic cancer cells have been known to rely more heavily on autophagy, but UNC Lineberger scientists reported evidence that a type of treatment -- an ERK inhibitor -- actually increased their reliance on this. The scientists believe the compound prevents the cell from relying on other energy sources, driving it toward autophagy.
"The cancer cell has many ways to achieve what it wants in terms of getting more energy," Der said. "We find that if you try to stop one, a cancer cell has the ability to compensate. I think the analogy many of us use is the 'whack-a-mole' concept where you knock one thing down, and something else pops up. We need more than one hammer basically."
To block multiple energy sources at once, the scientists used an ERK inhibitor to cut off these other energy sources, alongside with an investigational compound used to block autophagy, in the hopes of starving the cells completely. They reported at AACR that this co-treatment showed a synergistic effect.
"What if we could cripple more than one energy sources for the cell at once?" Der said.
Source: Eurekalert
New Device can Deliver Cocktail of Drugs to Pancreatic Tumors
University of North Carolina experts have revealed that an implantable device can deliver a particularly toxic cocktail of drugs directly to pancreatic tumors.
Advertisement
Prognostic Indicators of Survival in Pancreatic Tumor Removal IdentifiedPreoperative assessment of the prognostic biomarkers might help in planning treatment strategies to improve patient outcomes. | Advertisement
|
Advertisement
Recommended Reading
Latest Cancer News
Chronotherapy (the sleep-wake cycle) is observed as a valuable alternative treatment in cancer diagnosis and treatment.
A nanoengineering platform targets neutrophils, the white blood cells without killing pancreatic cancer cells paving the way for effective treatments.
The survival rates between lobectomy and wedge resection surgical procedures were found to be the same among lung cancer patients.
The mechanism by which the kinases cause inflammation has been discovered by scientists.
Pancreatic cancer cases are on the rise. The biomarker approach could reduce the chance of developing pancreatic cancer.