A new use for an old drug that shrinks a particular type of pancreatic cancer tumor and stops it spreading has been found by Cancer Research UK scientists.
Pancreatic Cancer - All About the Disease, its Diagnosis and Management
Pancreatic cancer often involves its exocrine part. It grows aggressively, and often detected late. Treatment options include surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.
Pancreatic cancer often involves its exocrine part. It grows aggressively, and often detected late. Treatment options include surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.
Previous clinical trials did not find this drug to be effective as a treatment for pancreatic cancers when it was given to all patients with different forms of the disease.
But the team's findings show that a particular type of pancreatic tumour – caused by a fault in the gene PTEN, which is involved in cell growth – may be responsive to the drug after all.
Quiz on Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic cancer is often diagnosed at a late stage and can be fatal. Test your knowledge on pancreatic cancer by taking this quiz.
Pancreatic cancer is often diagnosed at a late stage and can be fatal. Test your knowledge on pancreatic cancer by taking this quiz.
The drug blocks a protein called 'mammalian target of rapamycin' (mTOR), which also controls cell growth. The research suggests that tumours caused by the faulty PTEN gene may be dependent on mTOR to keep growing.
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Study author, Dr Jennifer Morton, a scientist at the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute, University of Glasgow, said: "This is incredibly important research showing for the first time that there's potential to tailor treatment to pancreatic cancer patients based on differences in their tumour's genetic fingerprint."
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"While more research is needed to see if this approach could benefit patients, it's a crucial step forward in developing new treatments for this devastating disease which has seen no survival improvements since the 70s."
The scientists also used a new type of imaging to help them see if the drug was working early on in the treatment, which may help doctors in the future monitor if the patient is responding.Every year 8,800 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the UK. Just over three per cent of people diagnosed with the disease will survive for five years or more.
Dr Kat Arney, science communications manager at Cancer Research UK, said: "This is a promising step towards being able to understand how pancreatic tumours differ from each other and how we can personalize treatments to them. It's a challenging disease where little progress has been made and that's why Cancer Research UK is making pancreatic cancer a research priority."
"Over the next few years we plan to more than double the amount we spend on pancreatic cancer research to accelerate research into understanding the biology of this disease and change the odds for patients."
Source-Eurekalert
