The project
Gemcitabine is a key drug used to treat pancreatic cancer. It kills cancer cells by being inserted into their DNA. Resistance to gemcitabine is a major challenge during treatment though, as cancer cells adapt to gemcitabine and stop responding. Dr Rebecca Jones will develop a new DNA sequencing method to measure levels of gemcitabine in cellular DNA so that she can ask the question: do resistant cells have less gemcitabine in their DNA? Rebecca aims to work out how cells become resistant so that we can find drugs to combine with gemcitabine and prevent resistance. The end-goal is to keep gemcitabine working against pancreatic cancer for as long as possible.
What are you going to do?
Objective one – Train DNA sequencing software to detect gemcitabine in short, ‘artificial’ DNA molecules containing gemcitabine and confirm with cellular DNA.
Objective two – Measure levels of gemcitabine in the DNA of sensitive and resistant pancreatic cancer cells through DNA sequencing.
Objective three – Find a way to make resistant cells respond to gemcitabine again. Using information from Objective two, we will select readily-available drugs to test in combination with gemcitabine, with the aim to increase cell death in resistant cells.
Why is this research important?
Gemcitabine is a commonly used drug to treat pancreatic cancer. It is used before and after surgery to reduce tumour size and prevent recurrence of the disease. As with many therapies however, development of resistance is a major problem. To reach the full potential of gemcitabine and beat the cancer, Rebecca needs to understand how the cancer cells adapt to become resistant. With this knowledge, she can find another weakness in the cancer and target this, alongside the use of gemcitabine. Her long-term aim is to make gemcitabine work for longer and extend the lives of thousands of patients, giving them more valuable time with their families.
How do I get involved?
This is open to anyone affected by pancreatic cancer including patients, survivors, carers and loved ones.
No scientific background or prior experience is needed to take part in this opportunity.
Next steps
This involves reading their document and answering some questions on it. This is completed anonymously and electronically. If you are interested in taking part please email the Research Team (research@pancreaticcancer.org.uk) quoting the involvement reference ‘Jones document review’
