Spanish Scientists Eliminate Pancreatic Cancer in Mice Using Experimental Triple-Drug Therapy

A team of Spanish scientists, led by biochemist Mariano Barbacid at the National Cancer Research Centre, has reported successfully eliminating pancreatic tumours in laboratory mice using an experimental triple-drug combination.

The therapy used gemcitabine, all-trans retinoic acid, and neratinib to block multiple cancer survival pathways simultaneously, resulting in complete tumour regression with no observed recurrence.

The researchers emphasised the results as a significant advance but stressed the treatment has not yet been tested in humans. Pancreatic cancer, driven by KRAS gene mutations in over 90% of cases, remains one of the deadliest cancers due to late detection and treatment resistance.

Key Points:

The breakthrough offers a potential future therapeutic pathway for a disease with an extremely low survival rate, currently fewer than 10% at five years.
It represents a major but early-stage investment in oncology research, requiring significant further funding and testing before any human application.
Patients and families gain a measure of hope from a tangible scientific advance, while researchers validate a multi-target strategy against a highly adaptive cancer.
The success in mice challenges the long-standing difficulty of targeting KRAS mutations and demonstrates the potential of combination therapies.
The immediate caveat from experts underscores the critical, often lengthy, translational gap between promising animal studies and effective, safe human treatments.

While a landmark in preclinical research, this therapy’s journey from mice to humans will depend on rigorous future clinical trials and regulatory approval.

Sources: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO)