Researchers Find Potential Drug Combo That Work Against Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest types of cancer, affecting millions around the world. Reports suggest that only around 10% of patients live for five years after being diagnosed. It develops in the tissues of your pancreas, an organ located behind the bottom portion of your stomach in your belly. Your pancreas generates hormones that promote digestion and releases enzymes that improve digestion. The most common kind of pancreatic cancer starts in the cells that lining the ducts that transport digestive enzymes from the pancreas. The pancreas can be affected by a variety of tumours, both malignant and noncancerous.

Pancreatic cancer is seldom discovered early on when it is most treatable. This is due to the fact that it frequently does not show symptoms until it has migrated to other organs. Treatment choices for pancreatic cancer are determined by the disease’s stage. Surgery, chemotherapy, radiation treatment, or a combination of these may be used. But researchers have found a new drug combo that has shown early potential for treating pancreatic cancer.

Symptoms Of Pancreatic Cancer

You won’t be able to feel a lump or tumour on the exterior of your abdomen if you have pancreatic cancer. It’s possible that you might not be able to notice any symptoms until cancer has spread. Sometimes, it is also referred to as a silent disease because it’s hard to spot early. Some common symptoms that may appear as the tumour enlarges include:

• Pain in the abdomen that radiates to your back
• Unexpected weight loss
• Excessive hunger or thirst
• Dark urine
• Light-coloured stools
• Swelling, redness and pain in the leg
• Enlarged gallbladder
• Blood clots
• Fatigue

See your healthcare provider if you experience any unexplained symptoms that worry you.

Potential Treatment Against Pancreatic Cancer

According to a study published in the journal A Cancer Cell, a team of MIT researchers has developed an immunotherapy strategy that can help in treating pancreatic cancer. The immunotherapy approach, which consists of a three-drug cocktail that boosts the body’s immunological defences against malignancies, has been demonstrated to eradicate pancreatic cancers in mice. The novel treatment is expected to begin clinical trials later this year.

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How This Drug Combo May fight Pancreatic Cancer?

T cells in the immune system can recognise and destroy cells that produce malignant proteins, according to the researchers, but most cancers establish an immunosuppressive environment that inhibits these T cells, allowing the tumour to persist. The connections between PD-L1, a cancer-linked protein that shuts off T cells, and PD-1, the T cell protein that PD-L1 attaches to, are the focus of one type of immunotherapy medication that has shown promise in treating a variety of cancers.

Checkpoint inhibitors, or drugs that block PD-L1 or PD-1, have been authorised to treat malignancies, including melanoma and lung cancer, but they have minimal effect on pancreatic tumours. In addition to the clinical study, the MIT team aims to investigate which types of pancreatic tumours are most likely to react to this medication combination.