Drug combination destroys pancreatic cancer cells

Cancer Research UK scientists have revealed how a combination of two very different drugs -- currently being tested in clinical trials -- amplifies the destruction of pancreatic cancer cells, according to research published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. The team at Cancer Research UK’s Cambridge Research Institute showed in mice that combining a chemotherapy drug called gemcitabine with an experimental drug called MRK003  sets off a chain of events that ultimately kills cancer cells – multiplying the effect of each drug on its own. The research showed that MRK003, a gamma secretase inhibitor, blocks an important cell signalling pathway called Notch in both pancreatic cancer cells and the endothelial cells that line the blood vessels supplying tumours with essential nutrients.