A TEAM at UNSW has discovered a promising new approach to treating pancreatic cancer.
The new treatment targets not just the cancerous cells, but the environment around the tumour as well.
"The analogy that we use is that we can't just treat the seed, i.e. the cancerous cells," said lead researcher Minoti Apte.
"We now know that the soil, the cells around the tumour, needs to be targeted too."
When the team tested the two-pronged treatment approach in a pre-clinical model of pancreatic cancer, they found a great reduction in tumour size that also led to the cancer spread almost completely disappearing.
"Our results show that a combined approach of blocking the action of a growth factor produced by pancreatic stellate cells around the tumour, in addition to standard chemotherapies, offered the highest possible reduction in cancer growth," Professor Apte said.
"What we hope to do next is to comprehensively test these findings in our laboratory in order to obtain robust evidence that will form the basis for clinical trials - we need to prove that what we have found works in practice."
Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms of cancer in Australia.
More than 3200 people are expected to be diagnosed this year, with more than 2900 deaths expected.
Cancer Council NSW's research grants manager Jane Hobson said continued funding was needed to enable research projects like Professor Apte's.
"Today, over 65 per cent of people diagnosed with cancer will still be alive five years after a cancer diagnosis - that is a reason to celebrate," Ms Hobson said.
"However, the reality is that despite improvements in survival rates across more common types of cancer, only about 6 per cent of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer will survive past five years.
"Research projects into low-survival cancers such as pancreatic cancer are always in need of funding. We hope to play a role in improving the outcomes of pancreatic cancer patients."
- You can help support Cancer Council NSW and the researchers it funds by participating in Daffodil Day on Friday, August, 25.
Cancer Council NSW is hoping to raise $2.1 million to help fund more research projects into cancers with low survival rates.
