Novel platform uses modified virus to combat pancreatic cancer
Researchers from Queen Mary University of London and Zhengzhou University have developed a powerful therapeutic platform that uses a modified virus for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.
By using the virus in combination with other drugs, the treatment significantly extended survival in preclinical models of pancreatic cancer.
Viruses that can selectively infect and destroy cancer cells, known as oncolytic viruses, are a promising new class of therapeutics for cancer. Through various mechanisms, oncolytic viruses kill cancer cells and elicit strong anti-tumour immune responses.
However, current oncolytic virotherapy is unable to produce a long-term cure in patients, and the treatment has to be delivered directly into the tumour - a route that is not feasible for deeply embedded tumours, or tumours that have spread around the body.
Jan 07 2021 Read 271 Times
UK-based researchers needing samples of blood, urine and saliva to aid their pancreatic diseases research can now turn to the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund Tissue Bank (PCRF Tissue Bank), created to help drive the development of diagnostic tools and new treatments in this field.
Set up in 2016 with £2.4 million from the medical research charity and coordinated from the Barts Cancer Institute at Queen Mary University of London, the PCRF Tissue Bank is the largest of its kind in the world and now holds some 45,000 unique samples of blood, urine, saliva and tissue as well as matched surrounding healthy tissue, donated from 2,200 consenting patients (collected over 2,800 visits) who underwent biopsies or surgery for a range of pancreatic diseases at one of eight partner hospitals across the UK.
Queen Mary hosts UK s national pancreas tissue bank miragenews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from miragenews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.