Pancreatic cancer treatment could make use of
combination therapy to totally eradicate tumour cells in the future.
A new report from Cancer Research UK's Cambridge Research Institute showed that
combining abraxane and gemcitabine had surprising effects. Gemcitabine is a
drug that can effectively inhibit cancer growth, but tumour cells respond by
secreting an enzyme which stops the drug from working.
However, if the drug is used in partnership with abraxane the enzyme is no
longer able to reduce the effectiveness of gemcitabine.
Study author professor David Tuveson, said the research answers a lot of
medical questions.
"Scientists faced a real conundrum. They knew that one plus one equalled
much more than two, but they couldn't fathom out the reasons why these drugs
worked so well together," he explained.
According to the charity, pancreatic cancer is the tenth-most common form of
the disease in the UK.
© Adfero Ltd
Cancer treatment news : 29 February 2012
