A research team from Spain’s National Center for Oncological Research (CNIO), led by scientist Mariano Barbacid, has eliminated the most common and aggressive form of pancreatic cancer in mice for the first time.
The therapy was designed by CNIO researchers Vasiliki Liaki and Sara Barrambana, in collaboration with Carmen Guerra. Barbacid directs CNIO’s Experimental Oncology Group and serves as honorary scientific president of the CRIS Against Cancer Foundation.
According to Barbacid, the treatment achieved complete tumor remission in animal models, a result never before accomplished for this type of cancer.
The therapy uses a combination of three drugs: one targeting the KRAS oncogene, a key driver of pancreatic cancer, and two others that block the EGFR and STAT3 proteins. Together, the drugs completely halted tumor growth.
In the study, 18 mice implanted with human pancreatic cancer cells were treated, and 16 remained cancer-free more than 200 days after treatment ended.
Barbacid said this is the first time a complete and durable response has been achieved in pancreatic cancer models that prevents treatment resistance while causing no significant side effects.
The therapy targets pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, which accounts for most pancreatic cancer cases and is known for its resistance to existing treatments. The disease has a five-year survival rate of only 8 to 10 percent.
The findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and reported by the Spanish news agency EFE.
The discovery follows more than six years of research. In 2019, Barbacid’s group was able to slow pancreatic cancer growth in mice by targeting EGFR and RAF1, but the effects were limited. Identifying the key role of STAT3 allowed the team to develop a more effective and durable treatment strategy.
Next, the researchers plan to refine the therapy, test it in additional mouse models with different genetic profiles, study its effects on metastasis, and identify which patients may benefit most from the approach.
Barbacid also called on hospitals and laboratories to collaborate by providing new patient samples to support further research.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” he said, “but this is a major step toward the real possibility of curing pancreatic cancer.”
