Saturday, February 13, 2021

New drug to treat pancreatic cancer set for clinical trials

Zhi-Ren LiuProfessor Biology
CANCER DIGEST – Feb. 13, 2021 – A new drug that has been shown effective against pancreatic and triple-negative breast cancer in mice is set to begin clinical trials later this year.

The drug called ProAgio was developed by Georgia State University biology professor Zhi-Ren Lui and his team. The results of the mouse studies were published Jan. 1, 2021 in the journal Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology.


Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the most lethal form of pancreatic cancer with patients surviving less than six months after diagnosis. What makes it so difficult to treat is that the tumor forms a fibrous stroma, or a protective barrier of dense collagen around it, which thwarts delivery of drugs to the cancer cells.

“All solid tumors use cancer-associated fibroblasts, but in pancreatic cancer and triple-negative breast cancer, the stroma is so dense there’s often no way for conventional drugs to penetrate it and effectively treat the cancer,” explained Professor Liu in a press release.

ProAgio is engineered from a human protein that targets a particular cell surface receptor, called integran alphaVbeta3 (αVβ₃), which is rarely present on normal tissues, but highly produced by invasive cancer cells.

The ProAgio binds to the αVβ₃ and disrupts the activation of a series of genes that strips the tumor of its protective armor and ultimately triggers apoptosis, or programmed cell death in the targeted cells.

In the study the researchers used the drug to analyze the effects on pancreatic cancer tumors in mice. They found that ProAgio successfully stripped away collagen in the tumor cells causing them to collapse and open them up to drug delivery. When given in combination with chemotherapy drug gemcitabine, apoptosis occurred, killing the tumor.

The mouse studies of ProAgio, which is licensed to ProDa BioTech, a pharmaceutical research company founded by Liu, were part of required pharmacokinetic and toxicology tests before moving the drug to early-stage clinical trials.

With the completion of those studies the company has submitted an Investigational New Drug (IND) Application to the FDA, requesting authorization to administer ProAgio to human subjects. Once the IND is granted clinical trials will begin.

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