Science Sub-Journal: Make chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer more successful

Pancreatic cancer is very difficult to treat

Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St.

The research was published in the December 1st issue of Science Translational Medicine

Senior author, medical oncologist Lin Jianhua, MD, associate professor of medicine, said: “Pancreatic cancer urgently needs new and better treatments

The drug, called ATI-450, is an anti-inflammatory therapy and is currently undergoing clinical trials for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis

FOLFIRINOX is the first-line treatment for pancreatic cancer, but only about one-third of patients have their tumors shrunk after this treatment

As part of their research, the researchers discovered that a molecule called MK2 is critical in allowing pancreatic tumor cells to survive chemotherapy

"MK2 activates a pro-survival mechanism that allows cancer cells to adapt to the severe stress of chemotherapy," said lead author, medical oncologist Dr.

Both Lim and Grierson treated patients with pancreatic cancer at the Siteman Cancer Center of Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine.

Compared with chemotherapy alone, ATI-450 combined with chemotherapy can reduce tumors by about half

"The nearly 50% increase in survival is a significant improvement," Grierson said

Lim added: “Many of the side effects of chemotherapy are due to inflammation caused by a molecule called cytokine

Researchers plan to continue to study the therapeutic effects of ATI-450 on pancreatic cancer, including whether the drug plus chemotherapy can be combined with other research treatments, such as immunotherapy

Article title

The MK2/Hsp27 axis is the main survival mechanism of pancreatic duct adenocarcinoma under genotoxic pressure