Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, Pancreatic / 06.10.2016
DRD2 Inhibitors As Potential Therapy Against Pancreatic Cancer
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Pouria Jandaghi
Functional Genome Analysis, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum
Heidelberg, Germany
Department of Human Genetics, McGill University
University and Genome Quebec Innovation Centre
Montreal, Canada
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Although the overall five-year survival of all patients with cancer stands at 63%, for pancreatic cancer patients, it is a disheartening 8% - a number that remains largely unchanged for three decades. Of the patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, about 85% exhibit pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Most of these patients die within 4 to 6 months after diagnosis. The poor prognosis is caused by the its detection at only late stages, and lack of effective options for chemotherapy. The widely used chemotherapeutic agent gemcitabine, confers a median survival advantage of only 6 months, and resistance to therapy develops in the vast majority of patients. Given this poor prognosis of patients with PDAC, there is an urgent need to find more effective therapies.
In this study, we set out to investigate potential therapeutic targets by dissecting gene expression profiles of tumors and control samples. Candidate targets were validated with respect to their suitability and analyzed functionally.
(more…)