A new ovarian cancer drug is to be tested as a treatment for pancreatic cancer.
Doctors hope the PARP1-inhibitor olaparib will work with chemoradiation to shrink tumours.
The aim is to use it to reduce tumours to an operable size when the cancer has not spread.
A phase 1 trial, which began yesterday in the UK, will aim first to find a safe dose for treatment.
Olaparib has been the first PARP inhibitor approved in Europe and the USA for treatment of women with BRCA mutated ovarian cancer.
Researcher Professor Jeff Evans, from the University of Glasgow, said: “This is the first time we’re looking at ways to make pancreatic cancer cells more sensitive to radiotherapy.
"One way to make pancreatic cancer a more treatable disease is to shrink the tumour enough to make surgery a possibility and we hope to see that happen in this trial.”
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