Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco, have developed a drug that can suppress the mutation called K-Ras G12D, which is responsible for almost half of all pancreatic cancer cases. The results of their research shared In the journal Nature Chemical Biology.
Scientists noted that pancreatic cancer is less common than others, which is an indirect reason for the inadequate selection of effective treatment options. To fill this knowledge gap, researchers conducted numerous experiments on mice. They managed to develop a prototype drug that can suppress the K-Ras G12D mutation, which causes almost half of all pancreatic cancer cases.
The researchers explained that K-Ras types are extremely common in pancreatic cancer, occurring in 90% of cases. Approximately half of these K-Ras mutations are G12D, distinguished from the others by a single amino acid change. This difference is key between healthy proteins and cancer-causing proteins because an amino acid change converts glycine to aspartate.
According to scientists, there are now very few drugs in the world that can detect the difference between cancer-causing aspartate and glycine and act only on tumor cells without affecting healthy cells. The new drug’s molecules can bind to, envelop, and eliminate aspartate while keeping the glycine proteins intact. Administration of the drug to laboratory mice contributed to a significant slowing of tumor growth in G12D-positive pancreatic cancer.
Scientists are now optimizing the molecule to be strong enough to fight cancer in the human body. According to the authors of the scientific study, thanks to the results of their study, new treatments for pancreatic cancer could begin to be tested clinically within two to three years.
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