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Targeted therapy

Targeting mitochondria in pancreatic cancer

Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology volume 11, page 562 (2014)Cite this article

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Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) accounts for the vast majority (90%) of all pancreatic cancers, and remains a disease with a very poor prognosis and high morbidity. KRAS mutations are a well-recognized driver event in PDAC, but targeting mutant KRAS is challenging, as patients eventually relapse and existing therapies are not able to eradicate all tumour cells.

Giulio Draetta, Andrea Viale and colleagues have now demonstrated, using a KRAS-inducible mouse model, that a subpopulation of dormant tumour cells survives KRAS-ablation therapy and induce tumour relapse. Importantly, these cells rely on oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) for survival.

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References

  1. Viale, A. et al. Oncogene ablation-resistant pancreatic cancer cells depend on mitochondrial function. Nature 10.1038/nature13611

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Authors
  1. Alessia Errico
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Errico, A. Targeting mitochondria in pancreatic cancer. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 11, 562 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2014.143

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