Pancreatic cancer discovery to improve treatment

Australian scientists said on Thursday that they have discovered that tumors in the pancreas have unstable regions hidden inside their genomes, a finding that has benefits for cancer sufferers by developing personalized treatment.

The results of their research, published in the science journal Nature, represents a significant advance in better understanding of pancreatic cancer, the fourth most common cause of cancer death.

Co-leader of the research group, Professor Andrew Biankin, who conducted the work at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in conjunction with Queensland University, said tumors differed by their gene arrangements and this discovery was the key to more personalized treatment for pancreas patients whose tumors have " unstable" genomes.

The study looked at the whole genome of 100 patients' tumors providing a detailed map of their tumor's entire genomic structure.

The researchers said a specific class of chemotherapy drugs, which damage tumor DNA and used to treat some breast cancers, may also work on pancreatic tumors with unstable genomes.

The team will now use the findings to design a clinical trial that gave patients targeted treatment. Endi