Armando del RÃo Hernández
Imperial College London, United Kingdom
Title: Switching off the forces that drive pancreatic cancer: Current and Future perspectives molecule in health and disease
Biography
Biography: Armando del RÃo Hernández
Abstract
Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer in developed countries with a particularly grim outlook putting the median survival at less than 6 months and the overall 5-year survival rate at only 4%, arguably the worst of all cancers. Unfortunately, despite development of therapies to target specific pathways in cancer cells (in addition to surgical and radiotherapy approaches), there has been little improvement in the outcomes of patients with pancreatic cancer in the last three decades, possibly because an important element of the tumour microenvironment, the abundant stromal reaction or desmoplasia, has been largely ignored, and most studies have focused on the genetics and biochemical signalling in cancer cells themselves. In our lab, we combine cutting edge biophysics and mechanobiology tools to target mechanosensitive pathways in pancreatic stellate cells – the cells responsible for producing this fibrotic reaction in the microenvironment. In this seminar we will discuss the most recent discoveries in the biomechanics of pancreatic cancer.
