A world-first drug developed in Australia may provide the breakthrough for people battling pancreatic cancer.
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Developed by UniSA scientists, the drug Auceliciclib, taken as a capsule, is demonstrating great potential in clinical trials to treat glioblastoma, the most aggressive form of brain cancer.
World-renowned cancer researcher Professor Shudong Wang now hopes to recruit pancreatic cancer patients for a clinical trial of the drug and the university has launched a matched-funds campaign to seek support for the trial.
Brain and pancreatic cancer share an insidious reputation for being two of the hardest to treat, with low survival rates and late diagnosis.
Ninety per cent of pancreatic cancer patients die within five years of diagnosis.
"Pancreatic cancer is extremely difficult to diagnose at an early stage because there are very few symptoms," Professor Wang said.
"If it is caught early, the malignant tumour can be surgically removed, but once it spreads into other organs it is lethal, and chemotherapy and radiotherapy only buy patients a little extra time."
Auceliciclib has been designed to specifically target CDK4/6 enzymes, which have impaired function in pancreatic cancer, making it more effective with fewer side effects compared to the current therapy.
Professor Wang's team is also working on a novel biomarker for pancreatic cancer, hoping to undertake genetic profiling of patients to see if they have any common characteristics.
The matched-funding campaign has been kickstarted with $350,000 from UniSA, with the same amount needed by the end of the year to progress planning for the trial.
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