BioCentury
ARTICLE | Distillery Therapeutics

LIF inhibition sensitizes pancreatic cancer to chemotherapy

August 8, 2019 5:17 PM UTC

INDICATION: Pancreatic cancer

Inhibiting LIF could sensitize KRAS-driven pancreatic cancer to chemotherapy. LIF levels were higher in two human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cell lines with KRAS-activating mutations than in a cell line expressing wild-type KRAS. In a mouse PDAC cell line, shRNA knockdown of LIF increased response to the generic chemotherapies gemcitabine, cisplatin and 5-FU. In a mouse model of KRAS-driven pancreatic cancer, an anti-LIF antibody decreased tumor volume and extended survival, and a combination of the antibody and gemcitabine had a greater effect. The combination also reduced tumor growth in a patient-derived xenograft (PDX) mouse model of the disease...