Pancreatic Cancer Treatment Shows Promise

Antibodies attack tissue surrounding tumor

March 25, 2011

Instead of attacking the tumor itself, a newly developed antibody for pancreatic cancer, targets the dense tissue surrounding the cancer.

University of Pennsylvania scientists have found a novel way of treating pancreatic cancer which involves attacking the dense tissue surrounding the cancer. Researchers say the new approach shows promise in battling one of the most stubborn of all cancers.

Cancer of the pancreas is one of the deadliest forms of the disease. It is almost always fatal, and current treatments are of little help.

In an effort to find something better, the Pennsylvania researchers developed an antibody that would activate the patient's own immune system to attack the cancer, much like a vaccine.

But lead author Robert Vonderheide says what happened was unexpected.

Instead of attacking the tumor itself, he says the immune system targeted what's called the scaffold, the dense tissue surrounding the cancer. "And it's a bit like attacking a brick wall by dissolving the mortar in the brick wall without actually having to bash down the bricks themselves. The immune system was able to eat away at this tissue surrounding the cancer, and the cancer really fell apart in the face of that."

Vonderheide and his colleagues tried the approach on a small number of human patients, just 21. None of them were "cured" of the disease, but several had promising changes, such as reductions in tumor size.