Researchers in Spain have eliminated pancreatic cancer in mice using a combination of three drugs that target genes involved in tumour growth. 

Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers, with around 87% of patients expected to die within five years of diagnosis. This disease often develops silently deep within the abdomen, and by the time it is detected, it has usually spread to other organs, making surgery difficult or impossible. While chemotherapy can kill cancer cells rapidly, it can also cause collateral damage to healthy tissue, and many tumours eventually become resistant to treatment. 

Researchers at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas (CNIO) in Spain focused on two genes, KRAS and STAT3, that control three pathways known to drive pancreatic tumour growth. To block these pathways, the researchers used three different drugs: afatinib, an approved treatment for lung cancer; daraxonrasib, currently being tested in clinical trials for pancreatic cancer; SD36, a new drug that disables STAT3. 

The drug combination eliminated pancreatic cancer in all three tested mouse models: mice with tumour cells implanted directly into the pancreas, mice genetically modified to develop pancreatic cancer, and mice implanted with human tumour samples. The treatment also prevented the cancer from returning for at least seven months and did not cause any severe or toxic side effects in the animals. 

“Despite current limitations, these results could open the door to new therapeutic options to improve the clinical outcomes of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma in the not-too-distant future,” said Mariano Barbacid, senior author of the study published in PNAS.