A microRNA may be therapy against Pancreatic Cancer

Indiana University cancer researchers found that a particular microRNA may be a potent therapeutic agent against pancreatic cancer. The researchers found that restoring missing microRNA-29 (miR-29) in pancreatic cancer stromal cells reduced the viability and growth of the cancerous cells.
A thick fibrotic shell around the cancer cells is known as "stroma," which protects the pancreatic cancer cells from anticancer drugs such as chemotherapy.
"We found that the loss of miR-29 is a common phenomenon of pancreatic cancer stromal cells, and that by restoring it, the stromal accumulation and cancer growth was reduced," Kota said. "The use of miR-29 as a therapeutic agent may be more effective in targeting reactive stroma, as a single miRNA regulates the expression of several genes associated with disease mechanisms."
"In healthy cells and tissues, a single miRNA controls the expression of hundreds of genes, and any alterations in their normal expression leads to abnormal overexpression of bad genes that are favorable for the growth of cancer cells and are harmful to normal cells," Kota explained.
"This is a novel approach that has the potential to overcome the problems associated with current anti-stromal drugs and that could lead to improved therapeutic strategies, enhanced drug delivery to the tumor bed, and, in the future, improved patient survival."