An experimental drug for aggressive and deadly pancreatic cancer effectively shrank almost all tumors tested, a new laboratory study found.
Researchers who tested the new treatment declared it the most effective studied so far: It reduced tumors in pet plates by 30 to 98 percent.
Pancreatic cancer affects approximately 67,000 Americans each year and kills about 52,000 of them.
It typically progresses rapidly and is considered one of the most sinister forms of the disease that has claimed the lives of high-profile patients such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Patrick Swayze, Alan Rickman and Steve Jobs.
Currently, treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy and immunotherapy drugs aimed at curing the disease often fail, as it is usually diagnosed in late stages.
Harry Potter star Alan Rickman died at age 69 from pancreatic cancer in 2016. His battle with the aggressive cancer was brief
Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs battled pancreatic cancer for a decade, but he made no public statements about his illness and was determined to stay at work as long as he could.
The latest experimental drug successfully interfered with the gene drivers of about 95 percent of the most common form of pancreatic cancer: pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas.
A gene called KRAS plays a crucial role in cell division, proliferation and death.
When the gene mutates, it stimulates uncontrollable cell growth, a hallmark of cancer.
Dr. Kenneth Olive, a physician at Columbia University who led the research in his laboratory, said: “For more than four decades, we have known that there is a particular RAS protein, called KRAS, that is mutated and causes about 95 percent of all pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas cases, and we haven’t had direct tools to attack it for most of that time.
The mutated gene helps transform normal pancreatic cells into cancerous cells, promoting the growth of treatment-resistant tumors that respond poorly to chemotherapy.
The researchers tested the drug on human-derived cancer cells and found that tumor shrinkage was seen in seven out of 10 models, with the degree of shrinkage ranging from 30 to 98 percent relative to the initial volume of the cells. tumors.
Dirty Dancing actor Patrick Swayze was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in early 2008 and died less than two years later.
Pancreatic cancer is among the deadliest types, killing about 90 percent of its victims and having a five-year survival rate of about two percent or less.
Dr. Olive said: ‘RMC-7977 [name of the new drug] as a single agent outperformed the best combination regimen ever reported in the literature in that model system,” adding that it was the first time he had seen tumors routinely shrink in all models.
They also found that the treatment did not damage other healthy cells. Many cancer treatments, including chemotherapy and radiation, can damage healthy cells while targeting cancer cells.
Pancreatic cancer usually shows no symptoms until the disease reaches an advanced stage.
Dr Olive added: “I have been working on pancreatic cancer for almost 20 years and have never seen preclinical results like these.
“I think there is a real chance that this approach will help change the standard of care for pancreatic cancer patients, but only clinical trials can determine that.”
It can cause decreased appetite, stomach pain that radiates to the sides and back, weight loss, yellowing of the eyes and skin (jaundice), dark-colored urine, itching, uncontrolled diabetes, pain and swelling in arms or legs, and fatigue or weakness.
A 2022 survey of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network found that 83 percent of adults are unaware of the signs of the disease.
Smoking and type 2 diabetes are important risk factors. Others include a family history of certain DNA mutations that cause cancer, obesity, old age, and excessive alcohol consumption.
There has been a worrying increase in the number of new cases of pancreatic cancer affecting younger women.
Surprisingly, women under 55 had a 2.4 percent greater increase in pancreatic cancer rates compared to men of the same age, according to recent analyses.
Dr. Srinivas Gaddam, the Cedars-Sinai doctor who made that discovery, said, “And while we report an improvement in survival in pancreatic cancer every year, that improvement is primarily among men.”
“The death rate among women is not improving.”
Pancreatic cancer made headlines in 2011 when Apple CEO Steve Jobs succumbed to it after a years-long battle about which he spoke little publicly.
Actor Alan Rickman, who played Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series, died after a brief battle with the disease, while Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg battled the disease for 11 years before passing away in 2020 at 87 years old.
The latest findings from the consortium of doctors were published in the journal Nature.