Drug combination provides link to pancreatic cancer cure

Scientists in Cambridge believe that found a breakthrough in the fight against pancreatic cancer.

Trials which involved combining the chemotherapy agent gemcitabine with the experimental MRK003 drug was found to set off a reaction which killed cancerous cells in mice.

Further research from Cambridge University and Cancer Research UK is now set to be carried out on humans to see if the results can be replicated.

At present the rate of survival for people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer is extremely low and Cancer Research UK has said that it is prioritising funding for the research in the hope that a cure can be found.

The disease is the fifth most common kind of cancer and affects around 8,000 people in the UK each year, with death usually occurring within six months.

Indeed, just 16 per cent of people diagnosed with the disease go on to live for more than 12 months.

Professor Duncan Jodrell, who is leading the trials at the trials, said: "We're delighted that the results of this important research are now being evaluated in a clinical trial, to test whether this might be a new treatment approach for patients with pancreatic cancer, although it will be some time before we're able to say how successful this will be in patients."
Around 60 people with advanced pancreatic cancer have been invited to the first Phase I/II clinical trial.

Father-of-two Richard Griffiths, 41, from Coventry, who was diagnosed in May last year, said: "The trial gives you hope - I really feel I can do this with the science behind me."

Earlier this year the BBC reported that a link between eating processed meats, such as sausages and bacon, and pancreatic cancer has been discovered by researchers in Sweden.

According to the study, eating the equivalent of just one sausage each day raises the risk of developing the disease by 19 per cent.