NEWCASTLE researchers have been awarded a share of $1.8 million in research grants to tackle a disease with one of the lowest survival rates - pancreatic cancer.
University of Newcastle researcher Robert Chapman is developing a non-toxic chemotherapeutic drug without the usual side effects, tweaking a similar drug discovered in the 90s that didn't last long enough in the body to kill cancer cells.
"It presses a self-destruct button on the cancer cells, communicating to get the cells to kill themselves and it should have much fewer side effects than a traditional chemotherapeutic," he said.
"A mimic of this drug made out of synthetic material should work much better, because your body doesn't see it and clear it out.
"Our idea is to make a version of this successful drug which is invisible to the body and makes it to the tumour sites."
Dr Chapman's research has already shown that the drug works on cells and a $300,000 PanKind Australian Pancreatic Cancer Foundation grant will allow him to test whether it works in the body, starting with animals.
One of the big problems in treating pancreatic cancer is the dense network of tissue that develops around the tumour, and the second is that it metastasises, or spreads around the body, very quickly.
Cutting the cancer out isn't a great treatment option, because the cancer cells have often already spread and pancreatic cancer is resistant to existing chemotherapies, Dr Chapman said.
"Pancreatic cancer is known to be susceptible to this kind of drug, but the reason it's not on the market is because it has a terrible half-life or stability in the body," he said.
"We're accessing a type of chemotherapeutic where we know it should work on pancreatic cancer, but using materials that are stable enough so that it doesn't get cleared by the body."
The mechanism he's using could work for other cancers and is well-known in the cancer community.
If it works as he expects, it could take another decade before it's a treatment option that's offered to patients.
"It's a way of killing cancer cells that we've known about for ages but we haven't been able to make it work, if we can show it's viable with synthetic materials it could have broad implications," Dr Chapman said.
Dr Chapman is one of seven scientists to share in the funding, hoped to help treat a disease with the lowest survival rate of all major cancers at only 12.5 per cent and even lower at 6.8 per cent in rural or regional Australia.
Newcastle's Calvary Mater Hospital Department of Medical Oncology head of experimental therapeutics group Jennette Sakoff also received $300,000 in funding.
Associate Professor Sakoff says one of the reasons why pancreatic cancer is so aggressive and doesn't respond well to treatment is that it communicates with its surrounding environment, producing a 'crusty barrier' around the cancer which stops treatments and therapies getting to it.
It also turns off the immune system so the body doesn't realise the cancer is there and naturally attack it.
Her research looks at developing molecules that inhibit the ability of the tumour and its micro environment to communicate.
"It will be a type of chemotherapy you would use in combination with standard chemotherapy treatments," she said.
"With this type of treatment the aim is to not only target and kill the tumour, but remove this protective barrier and turn the immune system on."
The research could unlock the opportunity for standard treatments to start working again for patients with pancreatic cancer.
"This is a treatment, of course the aim is to cure people of cancer but I don't think we ever will, it's about managing cancers better so that we can die with cancer, not of cancer," she said.
"The gold standard you aim for is a cure, but considering this is one of the nastier ones our there, if we can make incremental improvements in how we understand the disease it gives us new ways to target and inhibit it, that's a huge step forward."
What's unique about the project is that Associate Professor Sarkoff has developed a 'chemical switch' that knows how to target a particular cancer pathway.
Researchers from the University of Newcastle, University of NSW and clinicians are also involved in the project.
PanKind chief executive officer Michelle Stewart said she was delighted to support the world-class Australian project teams.
"They are progressing research into new and effective treatments, which is key to improving patient outcomes," she said.
"We also know that patients have more options available when their cancer is diagnosed earlier, providing the greatest chance of survival."
It marks the largest single funding announcement from PanKind, made on World Pancreatic Cancer Day.
