Luke O’Neil, live from Sarajevo on a breakthrough in treating pancreatic cancer
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
In Ireland, nothing gets us talking like lions. Tea? Small talk. Well, Jimmy, shocking weather we're having. Big talk. Even I could have played county. Office talk. I'm MIA in the AM, but I'll circle back on the KPIs. Real talk. Milk before tea. Should be a criminal offence. You could say we talk too much, but the truth is, we don't talk nearly enough. Lions puts the talk into tea. The Pat Kenny Show. With timber living log cabins. Saturday and Sunday from 10am on Newstalk. Conversation that counts.
Well now we're joined from Sarajevo by Luke O'Neill, Professor of Biochemistry at the School of Immunology at Trinity College in Dublin. Luke, good morning. Good morning, Pat. How's it going? It's going very well. How are things in Sarajevo? What is your mission?
I'm at a conference, as ever, Pat. I've got a big conference in Sarajevo at the moment, the last couple of days. So it's a great city. Have you been here, Pat? It's a wonderful city to visit, actually, because there's great things to see. The big thing is U2, Pat. Remember U2 played here after the war? And they're all talking about U2 to me, given they're from Ireland. I'm having a really good time.
Very good. Anyway, let's go back in time to another conference that happened during the week and some very interesting and encouraging breakthroughs in cancer treatment.
That's right. All the talk at this conference, Pat, is about what happened earlier this week in Chicago. There was a huge big cancer conference and it's called Huge Excitement because they've announced breakthroughs as ever in pancreatic cancer. There's a drug, Pat, that can extend life in pancreatic cancer by six months. which is a big deal because, as you know, pancreatic is one of the more troublesome cancers. And the normal survival time is about six months post-diagnosis. This drug is extending people out to about 12, 13 months. And it got a standing ovation quite amazingly when they announced it, which you wouldn't normally see at a conference.
What is the significance of the conference happening in Sarajevo?
So it's causing a big stir.
Now, they understand, obviously, this drug is working, extending life, but they understand the mechanism of it working. What exactly is it doing?
They do. They've known for a while, but there's a mutation in pancreatic cancer. Most cancers, of course, as you know, involve mutations in the DNA. And you get a mutant protein being formed. And a thing called RAS, R-A-S, RAS, gets mutated in pancreatic. And this drug targets RAS. They spent years trying to target RAS, by the way, using different approaches. And this drug is called Aroxin RASib. strange name, that can block this mutant RAS. And RAS is making the tumor grow. So, of course, if you block RAS, you stop the tumor growing, and that's where they saw the effect. It's a breakthrough, because they thought RAS was hard to target. And very cleverly, they came up with a way to block RAS, and they saw this great result.
Of course, it doesn't sound like a huge amount of extension of life, but still, it's a big difference for pancreatic patients, obviously. And then secondly, it's the start now, because they'll optimize this even more. So for the first time ever, Pat, they're talking about a way to stop pancreatic, which, as I say, was always very troublesome.
Okay, so this extends life by six months, but if it's stopping RAS, why does it then stop stopping RAS, if you know what I mean?
Well, eventually the cancer just grows, but it's hard. Sometimes cancer can be unrelenting, you know, so it kind of slows it down, I suppose. But eventually the tumour can come back. The trouble with pancreatic cancer is it spreads into your liver and various organs, and that's when it causes real problems. But, of course, now that they have it on the run, if you know what I mean, they'll optimise this, watch, and then they extend life even more.
Now, the other breakthrough was about vaccines and how they might help to treat cancers.
Yes. Now, this is another one, which, again, almost caused a standing ovation. And literally yesterday, Pat, all they were talking about at this conference was that report in Chicago.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–1:57
2
What is the significance of the conference happening in Sarajevo?
1:57–4:45
3
What breakthroughs in pancreatic cancer treatment were announced?
4:45–5:26
4
How does the new drug extend life for pancreatic cancer patients?
5:26–6:42
5
What is the mechanism of action for the drug targeting RAS?
6:42–8:24