North Carolina cancer researchers have found a key pancreatic cancer biomarker that could open doors to new therapies to treat the disease.
A team of scientists at North Carolina Central University in Durham and the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center in Chapel Hill found that mutations in the known cancer gene called K-Ras resulted in higher levels of a protein called Pim-1.
Researchers studied laboratory models of human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, a form of cancer of the pancreatic duct. Researchers found that suppression of Pim-1 resulted in decreased cancer growth, an indication Pim-1 is required for growth of these cancer cells.
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Antonio Baines, assistant professor of biology and a member of NCCU’s cancer research program, said that Pim-1 looks like a promising target for new cancer therapies and it may also serve as an effective biomarker that signals the activity of mutated K-Ras in pancreatic cancers. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is responsible for an estimated 95 percent of pancreatic cancer and causes more than 35,000 deaths annually in the United States.
The team also tested the role of Pim-1 in cell invasion, part of the overall mechanism through which cancer cells spread throughout the body. The researchers found that Pim-1 plays a role in radioresistance, a phenomenon where cancer cells are less susceptible to common radiation therapies for cancer. Scientists found that inhibiting Pim-1 expression also reduced the ability of the cancer cells to spread and resist ionizing radiation.
“We hope that this research can contribute to similar breakthroughs in targeted therapies for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma,” Baines said.
Results of the research have been published in the cancer journal Carcinogenesis. The research was carried out as part of a Comprehensive Minority Institution Cancer Center Partnership Grant from the National Cancer Institute. Funding was provided by the National Institutes of Health, Emerald Foundation, the Kimmel Foundation, American College of Surgeons, American Surgical Association Foundation and the University Cancer Research Fund.
