Aggressive Pancreatic Cancers Could Now Be Destroyed From Within

In the US, there are thousands of patients dying of pancreatic cancer every 12 Minutes as it is often diagnosed late. The pancreatic cancer is known to spread rapidly with a survival rate of around 10% that is only 5 Years after its diagnosis. Generally the doctors use radiation, surgery, and chemotherapy as the only treatment as this disease becomes resistant to drugs in the long run. The researchers from Moores Cancer Centerat the University of California San Diego School of Medicine andSanford-Burnham-Prebys Medical Discovery Institute and Columbia University have together developed a new tumor-penetrating therapy to advance the effects of chemotherapy, increase survival, and to reduce metastasis.

The latest study shows the efficiency of a tumor-targeting peptide named iRGD by penetrating through the shield built by the tumor using the fibrous tissue as a path to penetratedeeper and destroy the tumor from the interior. The pancreas is a gland situated behind the stomach and it is known to produce enzymes that help in digestion and generate hormones that control blood-sugar levels. The researchers have found the pancreatic cancersubtype, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), to be completely resistant to drugs due to the strong, hard shell created around the tumor.

The dense fibrous tissue surrounding the tumor is what shields the tumor from the drugs. However, there are certain drugs that reach the vessels of the tumor but are unable to get deeper inside the tissue, thereby making the treatment ineffective. This is the reason this type of cancer is so challenging to treat. The latest study proved that the tumor-penetrating peptide iRGD uses the fibrous network to transport the chemotherapy drugs into the tumor for more effectiveness. On testing in the mouse models, the researchers found that the iRGD to bind to β5 integrin, which a protein produced by the carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) that produce fibrous cover of the tumors. This binding was found to reduce the metastasis and instead increase the survival. This powerful treatment strategy with no side effects is ready to enter the human clinical trials.