Pancreatic cancer: New approach to therapy resistance
29.03.2023 13:57
A current study led by the Robert Bosch Center for Tumor Diseases in Stuttgart shows how resistance to therapy in pancreatic cancer can be prevented or reversed. The addition of an active ingredient may be enough to make previously unsuccessful chemotherapy treatments effective.
Pancreatic cancer remains one of the deadliest types of cancer. In Germany, around 21,000 people are expected to receive the diagnosis this year. Half of them succumb to the disease within the first six months, and only ten percent survive five years. In addition to late diagnosis, one of the biggest hurdles in treating pancreatic cancer is the amazing and unique ability of tumor cells to resist treatment by changing their molecular identity.
A new study now gives hope that these molecular changes can be prevented or reversed so that the tumor cells can no longer escape the effects of certain chemotherapies. The study is led by Dr. Steven A. Johnsen, Scientific Director of the Robert Bosch Center for Tumor Diseases (RBCT) at the Bosch Health Campus, in collaboration with researchers and doctors from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota (USA), as well as the University Hospitals of Göttingen, Essen and Bochum .
Surprising activation of certain genes
Johnsen's group has managed to identify how certain genes are activated that make cancer resistant to treatment. First, contrary to their expectations, the group found that the state of the genes associated with resistance to therapy remained unchanged during treatment. Instead, certain regions of the genome that were already active in therapy-sensitive tumor cells suddenly activated new partner genes that are required for therapy resistance.
On this basis, the researchers were able to develop ways to overcome resistance. “The great value of our work is that, based on our findings, we can combine certain substances that are currently being tested in clinical trials with previously used chemotherapies,” explains Johnsen. “We hope that the addition of another active ingredient will be enough to prevent therapy resistance or restore the response to therapy in resistant tumors.”
Success is only possible through teamwork
However, he also emphasizes that there is still a long way to go to bring the findings from laboratory research into clinical practice. To this end, Johnsen wants to work closely with his colleague, the clinical director of the RBCT, Prof. Dr. Hans-Georg Kopp, who is also chief physician at the Robert Bosch Hospital. “Overcoming this terrible disease requires a lot of teamwork. We can’t do this alone,” emphasizes Kopp. With the National Center for Tumor Diseases Southwest, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and which, in addition to the Bosch Health Campus, includes the Ulm and Tübingen University Hospitals, Johnsen and Kopp hope to have more and better opportunities to implement research results like these into clinical practice.