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There may be new hope for patients with a subset of pancreatic cancers tied to certain genetic mutations, a new study finds. The study involving 42 patients found that a “PARP inhibitor” drug called rucaparib (Rubraca), may replace chemotherapy in the up to 8% of pancreatic cancer patients whose tumors are marked by BRCA1, BRCA2 […]

Next-generation gene sequencing (NGS) technologies —in which millions of DNA molecules are simultaneously but individually analyzed— theoretically provides researchers and clinicians the ability to noninvasively identify mutations in the blood stream. Identifying such mutations enables earlier diagnosis of cancer and can inform treatment decisions. Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers developed a new technology to overcome the […]

In the fall of 2018, Teri Cettina began feeling a mysterious pain around her ribs. “I thought I had done too many ab exercises at the gym,” says the 55-year-old health writer from Portland, Oregon. When Cettina visited her doctor, her blood and urine tests came back normal. But over the next several weeks, the […]

Mestag Therapeutics™, a new company developing innovative therapies and treatments for cancers and inflammatory diseases, has been launched with $11 million in seed financing. In collaboration with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), Mestag is pursuing a first-in-class therapeutic strategy that focuses on cells called fibroblasts, which can impede the effectiveness of traditional cancer treatments. The […]

When doctors diagnose patients with pancreatic cancer, how do they decide which therapy to pursue? Are there standard protocols or guidelines that every doctor follows? Yes and no. For many diseases, including cancer, an expert panel of doctors gets together to agree upon drugs and therapies that should be used to treat the illness, based […]

With an overall survival rate of 9% for those diagnosed, pancreatic cancer remains exceedingly difficult to treat. However, the patient’s primary tumor typically isn’t what leads to death – it is the cancer’s ability to evade detection and metastasize to other organs. A team of researchers at the OU College of Medicine has published a […]

The early results showed that voruciclib led to a rapid decrease in the phosphorylation of proteins that promote MYC transcription and quickly decreases phosphorylation of MYC protein on Serine 62 (Ser62), which is a site implicated in stabilizing MYC in KRAS-mutant cancers. Treatment with voruciclib, a CDK9 inhibitor, as a monotherapy or in combination with […]

Giving early-stage pancreatic cancer patients a CD40 immune-stimulating drug helped jumpstart a T cell attack to the notoriously stubborn tumor microenvironment before surgery and other treatments, according to a new study from researchers in the Abramson Cancer Center (ACC) at the University of Pennsylvania. Changing the microenvironment from so-called T cell “poor” to T cell “rich” […]

Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have discovered that mutant KRAS and p53, the most frequently mutated genes in pancreatic cancer, interact through the CREB1 protein to promote metastasis and tumor growth. Blocking CREB1 in preclinical models reversed these effects and reduced metastases, suggesting an important new therapeutic target for the […]

Wasif Saif, MD, discusses factors to consider when choosing a frontline treatment strategy in pancreatic cancer, highlights the hunt for helpful biomarkers of response to available options, and offers sequencing suggestions. For patients with advanced pancreatic cancer, approved treatment regimens come with a host of factors to consider, as far as how they will be […]