Cancer Cell: Discover a new target for pancreatic cancer!

July 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Pancreatic cancer is driven by a co-existence of a cancer gene called KRAS and a mutation called p53.but researchers don't yet know how these mutations work together to promote cancer. A new study, co-led by Steven Leach of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center (NCCC), found a direct link between these mutations and the mechanisms that regulate cell activity, laying the groundwork for future treatments that could target pancreatic cancer with this new target.the study was led by Dr. Leach, Dr. Omar Abel-Wahab, msKCC, a member of the Human Oncology and Pathology Program at memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and Dr. Luisa Escobar-Hoyos, an associate professor of therapeutic radiology at Yale University School of Medicine.Dr. Escobar-Hoyos conceived and carried out the work, and was the first author, Dr. Leach as the communications author, and with Dr. Abdel-Wahab, he oversaw the work during the MSKCC and the NCCC.p53 is the most common mutant tumor suppressor gene in cancer, which dramatically alters the basic cellular mechanisms in which RNA is processed before it is translated into proteins.recombination leads to further activation of the KRAS cancer gene, the main 'drive' gene for human pancreatic cancer.photo source: Cancer Cell's team analyzed every known mRNA splicing mutation encoded by the human genome -- more than 200,000 possible sequences in hundreds of pancreatic cancer patients.their findings, "Altered RNA Splicing by Mutant p53 Activates Oncogenic RAS Signaling in The Cancer Cancer", recently published in the journal Cancer Cell. "Our paper shows that a new class of drugs that alter RNA splicing have selective activity against p53 mutant pancreatic cancer,"Leach said." this study suggests that there are still some basic mechanisms to be discovered in cancer, which could lead to new treatment strategies.based on these findings, the next step will be to design clinical trials to assess the role of these new drugs in pancreatic cancer patients.() References: Luisa F. Escobar-Hoyos et al. Altered RNA Splicing by Mutant p53 Activates Oncogenic RAS Signaling in C. Cancer. Cancer Cell (2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2020.05.010.