The global scientific community is celebrating a major cancer research breakthrough after a team led by renowned Spanish oncologist Professor Mariano Barbacid successfully achieved complete elimination of KRAS-mutated pancreatic tumors in laboratory mice. The landmark findings were published on January 27, 2026, in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Pancreatic cancer is among the deadliest forms of cancer worldwide, with KRAS mutations present in more than 90 percent of cases and long regarded as one of the most difficult targets in oncology. For decades, the mutation has resisted effective treatment, contributing to poor survival rates and limited therapeutic options.
Barbacid’s team reported that a carefully designed combination of three existing drugs—gemcitabine, all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), and neratinib—was able to fully eradicate KRAS-driven pancreatic tumors in mice. Remarkably, the treatment achieved this outcome with low toxicity, a critical factor in cancer therapy where aggressive treatments often come with debilitating side effects.
According to the study, the drug trio works synergistically by attacking both the cancer cells and the tumor’s supportive environment. Gemcitabine targets rapidly dividing cancer cells, ATRA disrupts the tumor’s protective stroma, and neratinib blocks key signaling pathways that fuel tumor growth. Together, the approach dismantled the cancer’s defenses and prevented recurrence in the treated mice.
Experts say the findings represent a significant shift in pancreatic cancer research, particularly because the therapy relies on drugs that are already approved or well-studied, potentially accelerating the path toward clinical trials in humans. While researchers caution that results in mice do not automatically translate to human success, the study has generated renewed optimism in a field long marked by setbacks.
Cancer specialists worldwide have hailed the discovery as a milestone, describing it as one of the most promising advances yet against KRAS-mutated pancreatic cancer. Barbacid and his team emphasized that further research and clinical validation are necessary but expressed confidence that the strategy could open the door to more effective, less toxic treatments for patients in the future.
As pancreatic cancer continues to claim hundreds of thousands of lives annually, the breakthrough has been widely welcomed as a rare and hopeful development—one that could eventually redefine how one of the world’s most lethal cancers is treated.
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