Researchers think they’ve found a way to improve treatment of pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer is resistant to chemotherapy because stiff tissue surrounding tumor cells blocks chemo drugs Softening the tissue can help chemo reach and kill cancer cells MONDAY, July 8, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Pancreatic cancer is particularly aggressive and difficult to treat, partly because it’s often resistant to chemotherapy. Researchers now think they know why struggles to work against pancreatic cancer – and how to reverse that resistance. It turns out that the physical stiffness of the tissue around the cancer cells makes chemo less effective, researchers reported July 4 in the journal .
“We found that stiffer tissue can cause pancreatic cancer cells to become resistant to chemotherapy, while softer tissue made the cancer cells more responsive to chemotherapy,” senior researcher , a professor of materials science and engineering at Stanford University, said in a news release. “These results suggest an exciting new direction for future drug development to help overcome chemoresistance, which is a major clinical challenge in pancreatic cancer,” she added. The study focused on pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, which accounts for 90% of pancreatic cancer cases.
This form of cancer starts in the cells lining the ducts of the pancreas. In these cancers, the tissue becomes notably stiffer, acting as a physical block that prevents chemo from reaching cancer cells, researchers sa.
