Pancreatic cancer therapy 'hope'

Pancreatic cancer often goes undetected
BBC News

Promising early results for a drug for pancreatic cancer have been reported by a team of UK and US scientists.

The drug, which targets a molecule called PKD involved in tumour growth, also seemed effective in animal tests on lung cancer, the researchers said.

The findings are especially encouraging because there are few treatments available and survival is poor.

Human trials should start within 18 months, the American Association for Cancer Research conference was told.

PKD is a family of molecules called kinases which provide a signalling function between the outside and inside of the cell.

Also involved in cell survival and the formation of new blood vessels, PKD was discovered to be potentially key target in tumours by UK researchers some years ago.

A team at Cancer Research Technology Ltd - a company owned by Cancer Research UK - then developed molecules which would inhibit the effects of PKD.

The latest results on the resulting drug, known as CRT0066101, show it inhibits the growth of pancreatic tumours in mice and works in lung cancer models. Read more...