Innovation New Jersey
  • Home
  • Our Coalition
    • Contact Us
  • News
  • Resources
    • State Supports
    • Federal Supports
    • Higher Ed Supports
  • Join Us

Innovation News

Everything Innovation. Everything New Jersey.
Follow us and stay connected.

Targeting a Signaling Pathway with a Diabetes Drug may be a Potential Strategy in Treating, Preventing Pancreatic Cancer Progression

4/6/2018

0 Comments

 
Research by Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey investigators further explores the use of the diabetes drug metformin and its impact on pancreatic cancer and finds that targeting a certain signaling pathway with this agent may be a novel strategy for the prevention and treatment of pancreatic cancer that has spread to other parts of the body.

The latest findings from the work are being presented as part of a poster session at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting being held this month in Chicago.
Metformin continues to gain attention as an anti-cancer drug and/or a chemoprevention agent due to its role in blocking protein synthesis in the protein complex known as mTOR, modulating inflammatory responses, and selectively killing cancer stem cells. It is still unclear how metformin impacts pancreatic cancer progression and metastasis.

The gene product known as RET has a strong presence in pancreatic cancer and correlates to cancer spread and worse survival following surgery to remove the cancer, say the authors. RET is responsible for encoding a cell receptor involved in functions impacting cell proliferation, death and survival and was the focus of this research. Investigators examined the inhibitory effects of metformin on pancreatic cancer cell growth and spread.

Examining molecular markers and assessing cell migration in laboratory models, researchers found that metformin treatment reduced RET’s signaling activity in certain pancreatic cancer cell lines. Furthermore, metformin treatment or silencing RET can significantly inhibit cell migration, suggesting that metformin may inhibit pancreatic cancer cell growth and spread at least partially through suppressing RET signaling activity.

“Our data indicate that targeting RET with metformin may be an attractive and novel strategy for the prevention and treatment of pancreatic cancer progression and metastasis. Completion of this study will form the basis for developing a novel clinical intervention strategy for inhibiting the growth and spread of pancreatic cancer using metformin and/or other selective RET inhibitors,” notes Xiang-Lin Tan, MD, PhD, who is the senior investigator of the work and member of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at Rutgers Cancer Institute.  Dr. Tan, who is also an assistant professor of medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and an assistant professor of epidemiology at Rutgers School of Public Health, notes additional studies are warranted.

Other authors on the work include: Huailong Chang, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey; Zhiyong Xiao, Beijing Institute of Pharmacology & Toxicology, Beijing, China; Tao Li, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey; Lanjing Zhang, University Medical Center of Princeton, Plainsboro; Yong Lin, Rutgers School of Public Health; and Darren Carpizo, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey.

​This work was supported by a Post-Doctoral Cancer Research Fellowship from the New Jersey Commission on Cancer Research (DFHS17PPC008 to HL Chang) and a grant from the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health (K07CA190541 to XL Tan).
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Do not miss a single innovative moment and sign up for our newsletter!
    Weekly updates


    Categories

    All
    3D Printing
    Academia
    Acquisitions
    Aerospace
    Agriculture
    AIDS
    Algae
    Alumni
    Animals
    Architecture
    Astrophysics
    Autism
    Awards
    Big Data
    Bioethics
    Biofuel
    Biomedical
    BioNJ
    Bioterrorism
    Bit Coins
    Brain Health
    Business
    Camden
    Cancer
    CCollege
    Cellular
    Centenary
    Chemistry
    ChooseNJ
    Climate Change
    Clinical Trials
    Cloud Tech
    Collaboration
    Computing
    Congress
    Coriell
    Council On Innovation
    Crowdfunding
    Cybersecurity
    DARPA
    Defense
    Degree
    Dementia
    Dental Health
    DOC
    DOD
    DOE
    Drew
    Drones
    Drug Creation
    Einstein's Alley
    Electricity
    Energy
    Engineering
    Entrepreneurship
    Environmental
    FAA
    Fairleigh Dickinson
    FDA
    Federal Budget
    Federal Government
    Federal Labs
    Federal Program
    Finance
    Food Science
    Fort Monmouth
    Fuel Cells
    Funding
    Genome
    Geography
    Geology
    Global Competition
    Google
    Governor Christie
    Grant
    Hackensack
    HackensackUMC
    Healthcare
    Health Care
    HHS
    HINJ
    Hospitals
    Immigration
    Incubator
    Infrastructure
    International
    Internet
    Investor
    IoT
    IP
    IT
    Jobs
    Johnson & Johnson
    K-12
    Kean
    Kessler
    Legislation
    Logistics
    Manufacturing
    Medical Devices
    Med School
    Mental Health
    Mentor
    Microorganisms
    Molecular Biology
    Montclair
    NAS
    Neuroscience
    Newark
    New Jersey
    NIFA
    NIH
    NIST
    NJBDA
    NJBIA
    NJ Chemistry Council
    NJCU
    NJDOLWD
    NJEDA
    NJEDge
    NJHF
    NJII
    NJIT
    NJMEP
    NJPAC
    NJPRO
    NJTC
    Nonprofit
    NSF
    OpEd
    Open Data
    OSHE
    OSTP
    Parasite
    Patents
    Paterson
    Patients
    Perth Amboy
    Pharma
    POTUS
    PPPL
    Princeton
    Prosthetics
    Ranking
    Rare Disease
    R&D Council
    Report
    Resiliency
    Rider
    Robotics
    Rowan
    Rutgers
    SBA
    Seton Hall
    Siemens
    Smart Car
    Smart Cities
    Software
    Solar
    Space
    SSTI
    Startup
    State Government
    STEM
    Stevens
    Stockton
    Subatomic
    Supports
    Sustainability
    Taxes
    TCNJ
    Teachers
    Telecom
    Therapy
    Thermodynamics
    Transportation
    Undergraduate
    USEDA
    Verizon
    Video Game
    Virtual Reality
    Water
    WHO
    William Paterson
    Women In STEM
    Workforce Development

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.