New hope for cancer treatment
SCOTS scientists have made a breakthrough in finding possible ways to treat pancreatic cancer.
While there have been advances which improve the chances of longer life for most cancers, pancreatic cancer continues to have a high death rate – partly because diagnosis usually comes late.
But now a study led by Glasgow University has developed new molecular markers which can predict who will respond to drugs targeting DNA damage caused by the cancer.
The findings mark an important step forward for potential treatment options for pancreatic cancer.
Researchers tested these markers using multiple drugs and developed a strategy which is being taken forward into clinical trial.
The trial will help doctors and researchers predict which patient will respond to which one of the drugs, either alone or in combination.
It will be the first precision medicine approach for pancreatic cancer in the UK.
The trial will open for recruitment in Glasgow, with 20 other centres across the UK to follow.
Dr David Chang, from Glasgow University’s Institute of Cancer Sciences, said: “Our study is a huge breakthrough in terms of what might be possible with future treatments.
“As part of our research, the strategy we’ve developed is extremely promising and we’re very pleased and proud to see it now be taken into clinical trial.
“For us, this is a demonstration of a bench-to-bedside precision oncology approach to tackle this terrible disease.”