Mouse Model to Advance Research on Pancreatic Cancer

Cancer researchers have created a line of genetically engineered mice that develop pancreatic cancer through the activity of two mutant genes in a manner similar to that found in humans. This model system will help investigators to identify markers for diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and to test drugs for its control.

Investigators at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston, MA, USA) used sophisticated bioengineering methods to establish the line of mice possessing an activated KRAS gene and an inactivated INK4a/Arf tumor suppressor gene. They reported in the December 17, 2003, online edition of Genes and Development that these mice displayed an early appearance of pre-cancerous lesions, which progressed rapidly to highly invasive and metastatic cancers, resulting in death in all cases by 11 weeks.

Senior author Dr. Ronald A. DePinho, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, explained that "the new mouse model is the first to contain the two critical lesions common to the human disease and which faithfully recapitulates the rapid onset and lethal progression of the disease. This model shows great promise as a platform for rapid and efficient testing of novel therapeutic agents, and for the discovery of tumor stage-specific markers--both critical, unmet needs for the fourth-leading cause of cancer death in the United States.”




Related Links:
Dana Farber Cancer Institute