New treatment hope for deadly pancreatic cancer

Switching ‘brake gene’ back on in cancer cells could be the key to innovative new drugs

New drugs that tackle pancreatic cancer from a different angle could be the key to improving outcomes for people with the disease.

According to a new study by Cancer Research, cancerous cells have a gene switched off which is switched on in healthy cells, thereby preventing the cell dividing uncontrollably.

A new type of drug is already being tested to work at switching the gene back on in cases of pancreatic cancer, to help treat the disease more effectively.

Professor David Tuveson from Cancer Research UK said: “We suspect that the fault wasn’t in the genetic code at all, but in the chemical tags on the surface of the DNA that switch genes on and off.

“Drugs which strip away these tags are already showing promise in lung cancer and this study suggests they could also be effective.”

In the UK around 7,800 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year, and survival rates beyond a year are low.

Dr Julie Sharp, also from Cancer Research UK, said this study was a step forward. She said: “These results raise the possibility that a class of promising new cancer drugs may be effective at treating some pancreatic cancers.”