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A new treatment for pancreatic cancer has shown encouraging results
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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Scientists from Cambridge have conducted the first clinical trials of a new method of treating pancreatic cancer, which has shown encouraging results.
The experiment found that combining a known anti-cancer drug, gemcitabine, with an experimental drug called MRK003 triggers a chain reaction in the mouse's body that ultimately leads to the death of cancer cells.
Human clinical trials of this treatment are currently underway, funded by Cancer Research UK.
Richard Griffiths, 41, a father of two, is taking part in the trial as a patient. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in May 2011.
"After six cycles of treatment, the scans showed that the tumours had shrunk in size and I am continuing the treatment," he says. "I have great hope for the new method and want to help science."
Aggressive cancer
The British Cancer Research Fund said research into pancreatic cancer was now being prioritised because survival rates for the disease were so low.
Every year in Britain, this form of cancer is found in 8,000 people; pancreatic cancer is the fifth leading cause of death from any category of cancer.
The expected survival time after diagnosis for pancreatic cancer is usually less than six months.
The latest figures for England show that only 16% of patients are alive 12 months after diagnosis.
Professor Duncan Jodrell, who is leading the trial at the University of Cambridge, said: "We are delighted that these important findings will now be put into clinical trials to see if they represent a new treatment for pancreatic cancer. However, it will take time to see how successful this treatment is in people."
The first phase of clinical trials will involve 60 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.
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