Keratin 17 drives resistance in pancreatic cancer, study finds

A national team of cancer researchers led by Drs. Kenneth Shroyer and Natalia Marchenko at Stony Brook Medicine, and Dr. Luisa Escobar-Hoyos of Yale School of Medicine, investigated the role of Keratin 17 (K17) in the most common form of pancreatic cancer. They discovered that the protein is a key driver for chemoresistance to gemcitabine, an agent that is often used to treat a wide range of cancers, including advanced tumors of the pancreas, lungs and breast. Their findings highlight K17 as a potential target for the development of novel treatments to address the most aggressive forms of cancer.