Precision for pancreatic cancer

Real-time sequencing and organoid-based screens in pancreatic cancer could place new targets and biomarkers in the hands of drug developers looking for ways to side-step KRAS, a gene mutated in 90% of patients.

Because KRAS mutations are so abundant in pancreatic cancer, companies and physicians have been slow to even test tumors for other targets. Two papers show the new techniques have already uncovered enough actionable data from patient samples to argue tumor profiling should be a mainstay of research and clinical care, regardless of KRAS status...