14 DAY TRIAL // A group of UK investigators from the University of Manchester, which is a part of the Manchester Cancer Research Center, announce the development of a new approach to treating pancreatic cancer, which significantly improves the efficiency of chemotherapy drugs commonly used for this disease.
This is very important because, by its very nature, pancreatic cancer is highly-resistant to regular drugs and radiotherapy, and leaves sufferers with very little chances of survival. The overall number of treatment options available for this condition is very limited, PhysOrg reports.
The UM team says it has developed an approach to killing cancer cells that leaves healthy tissue around the tumor intact. This limits the negative health effects of chemotherapy, and improve survival rates. In a paper published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the team says that the new approach works by targeting pancreatic cancer cells' own specialized energy supply.
“Designing drugs to cut off this supply to the calcium pumps might be an effective strategy for selectively killing cancer cells while sparing normal cells within the pancreas,” explains Dr Jason Bruce, who holds an appointment with the Physiological Systems and Disease Research Group at UM.