Novel drug cocktail may improve clinical treatment for pancreatic cancer

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Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. and has the lowest overall survival rate of all major cancers (~6%). With current treatment options being met with limited success it is anticipated that pancreatic cancer will move up to the second leading cause of cancer deaths by as early as 2015. Surgical removal of the tumor presents the best chance of survival, however only 15% of patients are eligible due to the late stage of diagnosis common with this disease. With very limited improvements in patient outcome over the last two decades there remains an enormous need for new therapies and treatment options.David Durrant, a Ph.D. student in the laboratory of Dr. Rakesh Kukreja from the Pauley Heart Center at Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Medicine, is studying a novel combination therapy for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. The traditional chemotherapy drug, doxorubicin (DOX), has long been used in the treatment of several cancers. However, patients commonly acquire resistance to DOX because of increased activation of specific survival proteins or through increased expression of drug transporters which reduce cellular levels of the drug. This is especially true for pancreatic cancer, which does not respond to multiple treatment strategies, including those that contain DOX. …


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