Researchers at Academia Sinica have developed a new targeted therapy for pancreatic cancer. Based on peptides, the new therapy works to prevent tumors from spreading. That could help save the lives of patients given a cancer diagnosis. Currently, pancreatic cancer is one of the most fatal, with many patients'' conditions worsening quickly soon after they''re diagnosed.
Dr. Chang Yu-ting
NTU College of Medicine
As a clinician, when we face pancreatic cancer in a clinical setting, it''s extremely frustrating.
Pancreatic cancer is sometimes called the king of cancers. It''s hard to detect early, and the five-year mortality rate is 90%. On diagnosis, 75% of patients'' tumors have already metastasized, making treatment even harder. Now after 15 years'' research, an interdisciplinary team from Academia Sinica has developed a targeted therapy to suppress cancer cells'' metastasis.
Dr. Hu Chun-mei
Genomics Research Center, Academia Sinica
In a cancer cell, when its IL-17RB receptors and IL-17B receptors combine, they then recruit the important dual kinase MLK4, and phosphorylate the IL-17RB. This sets the patient down a path towards cancer. So we have designed a peptide therapy that can effectively block IL-17RB and MLK4 from combining.
Dr. Wu Heng-hsiang
Chung Shan Medical University
Like all targeted therapies, you have to find patients who are genuinely suited to receive this therapy. We also want to develop testing systems to work out which patients are really suited to receive targeted IL-17RB therapy.
Many famous names have passed away with pancreatic cancer, including Apple founder Steve Jobs, and beloved sports broadcaster Fu Da-ren. Academia Sinica hopes its new therapy will undergo clinical trials within five years, to give patients of the future more opportunities for treatment.
