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Pancreatic cancer provides testbed for first mechanotherapeutics
Pancreatic cancer treatments are forging the path for a new line of agents that target the physical properties of a tumor and its surrounding microenvironment.
In recent weeks, FibroGen initiated a phase 3 trial of pamrevlumab in patients with locally advanced, unresectable pancreatic cancer. Pamrevlumab is a monoclonal antibody that targets connective tissue growth factor, thereby reducing the fibrotic tissue and making unresectable tumors amenable to surgical excision. It is one of several novel drugs in clinical development in the emerging area of mechanotherapies for neoplasms. Others are looking to repurpose existing agents originally developed for other conditions. A recently reported open-label phase 2 trial based on preclinical research led by Rakesh Jain of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School suggests that the generic angiotensin system inhibitor losartan, in combination with chemotherapy, boosts survival in unresectable, locally advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.