Stroma May Provide Key to Better Cancer Treatment

A project focusing on the scar tissue surrounding cancer tumours aims to provide new targets for drugs for treating pancreatic cancer.

A project focusing on the scar tissue surrounding cancer tumours aims to provide new targets for drugs for treating pancreatic cancer, the fifth highest cause of cancer deaths in the UK. 

Funded by the UK charity Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund, the project will research the role of a family of molecules present in this scar tissue — known as stroma — which are believed to have a role in driving tumour growth. 

The project is led by surgeon and researcher Mr Hemant Kocher from Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry.
The research is based on the ‘seed and soil’ hypothesis, where the cancer is the ‘seed’ and the stroma the ‘soil.’ Mr Kocher explains: “We believe the stroma provides the right environment in which the cancer can grow. All cancers have stroma, but in pancreatic cancer, it’s markedly more voluminous, which may prevent drug treatments reaching the tumour.”