An experimental drug targeting Ras-driven cancers has delivered unprecedented results against pancreatic cancer, offering new hope for patients with one of the deadliest and most treatment-resistant cancers. Researchers have called the findings one of the most significant advances in cancer treatment in the past 15 years.
Whitehead Valhalla Fellow Tobiloba Oni studies pancreatic cancer with a focus on the tumor microenvironment: the complex network of immune cells, structural proteins, and other cells that surround tumors and often prevent the immune system from attacking cancer cells.
Recent work from the Oni Lab uncovered how pancreatic tumor cells manipulate the extracellular matrix, creating a protective barrier that keeps immune cells out. The researchers found that tumor cells use glycans — sugar molecules on their surface — to disrupt the organization of this matrix. Blocking these glycans restores the matrix, allows immune cells to re-enter tumors, and improves their ability to attack cancer cells.
Oni is available to discuss the significance of recent advances in pancreatic cancer treatment, and how reshaping the tumor microenvironment could make immunotherapies more effective against pancreatic cancer, as well as other treatment-resistant cancers.
The following quotes are also available for media pickup:
- “Pancreatic tumors don’t just evade the immune system — they actively reshape their surroundings to keep immune cells out,” Oni says. “If we can reverse those changes, we may be able to make existing immunotherapies work in cancers that have long resisted treatment.”
- “The recent success of Ras-targeting drug is an exciting step forward,” Oni says. “The next challenge is finding complementary approaches that make these treatments even more effective for patients.”
