Spanish researchers eliminate pancreatic tumors in mice without resistance

​​​​​​​By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - Spain’s National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) said researchers succeeded in eliminating pancreatic tumors in mice using a triple-drug therapy that prevents the cancer from developing resistance, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive forms of the disease, with five-year survival rates below 10% due to late diagnosis and limited treatment options. Although drugs targeting the KRAS gene, mutated in around 90% of pancreatic cancer cases, were approved in 2021, their effectiveness typically declines within months as tumors become resistant, CNIO said Tuesday.

The CNIO team addressed the challenge by blocking the KRAS signaling pathway at three different points rather than one.

In mouse models of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, the most common form of the disease, tumors disappeared permanently without significant side effects.

"These studies open a path to designing new combination therapies that can improve the survival of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma," the authors wrote in PNAS, adding that the findings help chart the course for future clinical trials.

The therapy combined an experimental KRAS inhibitor, daraxonrasib, with afatinib, a drug already approved for certain lung cancers, and a protein degrader known as SD36. According to the study, the combination produced "a significant and lasting regression" in all tested mouse models and prevented the emergence of drug resistance.

Despite the promising results, researchers cautioned that clinical trials are not yet imminent.

"We are not yet in a position to conduct clinical trials with triple therapy," said Mariano Barbacid, head of CNIO’s Experimental Oncology Group.