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“Trojan Horse” future hope for pancreatic cancer patients

Extract from a story at ScienceNetwork WA. Full story here

A molecule developed by a Western Australian Institute for Medical Research (WAIMR) team, targeting a type of pancreatic tumour, was assisted by a $1.2 million grant from the Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ACRF).

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most virulent and fast-growing cancers with a very poor prognosis for survival from the time of diagnosis.

Lead researcher Professor Ruth Ganss said her team, working in a lab funded by the ACRF eight years ago, created the molecule which binds specifically to pancreatic tumours.

The process, which avoids toxic side effects, is showing improved survival rates.

“With an inflammatory agent packed into the molecule, the body’s own immune system will attack and destroy the cancer from the inside” says Prof Ganss.

“That’s why we called it the Trojan Horse”, she added.

The research is published in the July edition of The Journal of Immunology.

Click here to read about the original $1.2m grant to WAIMR from ACRF.