A three-drug therapy has eliminated pancreatic tumors in mice, according to a new study by Spanish researchers.
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Findings of the study by scientists at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), were published on January 27 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The study led by Dr. Mariano Barbacid focused on pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, the most common and aggressive form of the disease.
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In the experiments, mice treated with the three-drug combination showed full disappearance of their tumors. The cancer did not return for long periods, with some animals remaining tumor-free for more than 200 days after treatment.
Experts say that pancreatic cancer is one of the hardest cancers to treat. It is often discovered late because early symptoms are unclear. Many patients cannot have surgery, and chemotherapy has limited success. Worldwide, fewer than 10 percent of patients live five years after diagnosis.
What to know about the experiment
Instead of using a single medicine, the Spanish team combined three drugs that attack different parts of the cancer’s survival system.
The research shows that one drug targets KRAS, a gene mutation found in most pancreatic cancer cases and considered difficult to block. The second drug shuts down EGFR, a protein that helps cancer cells grow and spread, while the third blocks STAT3, a pathway tumors use to survive when other routes are cut off.
Researchers said using all three drugs together was the key to stopping the cancer from adapting and becoming resistant to treatment. When only one or two drugs were used, tumors did not disappear in the same way.
"The cancer uses several escape routes. By blocking them at the same time, the tumor can no longer survive,” the researchers noted in the study.
The mice tolerated the treatment well and did not show any serious side effects during the study, an important step before the therapy can be tested in humans.
Experts who were not part of the study said the results are promising but noted that success in mice often does not carry over to humans, explaining that many cancer drugs that work in animals fail in human trials because of biological differences and how patients respond to treatment.
Dr. Barbacid and his team said their work is still at the preclinical stage. They added that further studies are needed to confirm the treatment’s safety, establish the right dose, and meet regulatory requirements before human trials can begin.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers worldwide. According to the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, it was the 12th most common cancer in 2022 but the sixth leading cause of cancer death, with nearly 470,000 deaths that year.
Five-year survival rates are still very low worldwide, showing how hard it is to detect pancreatic cancer early and how little progress has been made in helping patients live longer.