In a new study, researchers have identified a combination of two anti-cancer compounds that shrank pancreatic tumors.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved versions of the compounds are used today to treat certain leukemias and solid tumors, including melanoma.
The research was conducted by scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers. It is often difficult to diagnose because symptoms—such as pain in the abdomen, yellow skin and eyes, and weight loss—don’t typically occur until the disease is advanced.
Less than 10% of people with pancreatic cancer remain alive five years later.
More than 56,000 Americans are expected to receive a pancreatic cancer diagnosis in 2019, according to the American Cancer Society.
Currently, pancreatic cancer therapy is lagging since there is no effective treatment for these tumors.
In the study, the scientists identified a potential treatment combination that can immediately be tested against these aggressive tumors.
They used a drug called L-asparaginase to starve pancreatic tumors of a key nutrient, asparagine—an amino acid required for protein synthesis.
Instead of dying, they found that the tumor turned on a stress response pathway that allowed the cancer cells to produce asparagine themselves.
The scientists then treated mice with a second drug that blocked the stress response pathway and shrank the pancreatic tumor.
L-asparaginase is FDA approved to treat certain leukemias; and the second drug, a MEK inhibitor, is approved for the treatment of solid tumors, including melanoma, a type of skin cancer.
The team says that this research lays the basis for the inhibition of pancreatic tumor growth.
It shows a promising dual treatment for pancreatic cancer—one of the deadliest cancers.
The researchers are already meeting with oncologists at Oregon Health & Science University to discuss how to advance this discovery into clinical evaluation.
One author of the study is Ze’ev Ronai, Ph.D., a professor in Sanford Burnham Prebys’ Tumor Initiation and Maintenance Program.
The study is published in Nature Cell Biology.
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