Spanish scientists achieve pancreatic tumor regression in breakthrough study

Scientists from the Spanish National Cancer Research Center have reported a breakthrough in pancreatic cancer treatment, as a new study shows that a triple combination therapy led to the disappearance of tumors in laboratory mice and prevented their recurrence. This was reported by Euronews.

Pancreatic cancer is among the most aggressive oncological diseases with an extremely poor prognosis, one of the primary reasons being the rapid development of resistance to existing therapies. In a statement, the study’s authors noted that the results open the possibility for developing new combination treatments that could improve survival rates for patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma in the future.

The key to the achieved effect is overcoming the resistance that occurs when the KRAS oncogene is blocked at only one point. The CNIO team combined an experimental KRAS inhibitor, a drug already approved for lung cancer treatment, and a protein degrader. As a result, tumors disappeared without significant side effects in three different animal models.

The results, published in the scientific journal PNAS, show that simultaneously targeting three key elements of the KRAS molecular pathway leads to sustained tumor regression. In Spain, more than 10,300 new cases of pancreatic cancer are diagnosed each year, with a five-year survival rate of less than 10%.

Despite the promising data, scientists are calling for caution. According to them, it is not possible to proceed to human clinical trials with the triple therapy at this stage. Optimizing such a combination for patients will be a complex and lengthy process, but the authors express confidence that the discovery will set the direction for future clinical trials.