Local 12: Researcher working to help patients with tough-to-beat pancreatic cancer

Local 12 recently highlighted University of Cincinnati Cancer Center researcher Andrew Waters, PhD.

Waters specializes in pancreatic cancer research, and the National Cancer Institute recently announced an intent to fund research in his lab focused on treatments that target KRAS-mutated pancreatic cancer.

Waters said the KRAS gene is like a light switch. When mutated, it is left on and causes cells to divide and grow uncontrollably. The first line of drugs targeting KRAS has been approved for different cancers, but they target a mutation not often found in pancreatic cancer.

"A focus of my research lab and other labs and others around the country is really trying to use pre-clinical and clinical drugs that target the other 98-99 percent of pancreatic cancer patients," Waters told Local 12.

"The other main focus of my lab is really trying to address this relapse," he continued. "So, when KRAS drugs are available for pancreatic cancer patients, how are these cells going to be able to adapt? And how can we cut off those adaptation mechanisms with another FDA-approved drug?"

Watch the Local 12 story on Waters' research.

Waters was also featured in a Local 12 story about a woman raising money for pancreatic cancer research. Watch the story.

Read more about Waters' research.

Featured photo at top: Researchers Krushna Patra, Andrew Waters and Patrick Krause review data. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand.