In a major development in oncology, researchers at the Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO) have confirmed the elimination of pancreatic tumors in mice.
Scientists have used a new triple therapy.
The study, published in the journal PNAS, describes how simultaneously targeting three points of the oncogenic KRAS pathway achieves durable tumor regression and avoids recurrence in animal models.
The oncogenic KRAS pathway is the cause of this aggressive cancer.
The five-year survival rate for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is less than 10%. One of the main reasons for the low survival rate is rapid resistance to treatment.
The CNIO team combined an experimental KRAS inhibitor with an existing lung cancer drug and a protein degrader.
In doing so, they were able to bypass the resistance that usually develops when only one pathway is blocked, causing tumors to shrink without any side effects in mice.
While praising the results as they provide clear direction for future clinical trials, the authors urge caution.
They stressed that applying this triple therapy to human subjects would be a complicated procedure and that human trials were not imminent.
If successfully developed, this strategy could mark a breakthrough in the face of one of the most daunting challenges in oncology.
