Experimental drug for pancreatic cancer based on UC research offers new hope

Through years of research at UCSF, including a breakthrough in 2013, scientist Kevan Shokat and his colleagues developed the first cancer drugs to target a similar kind of cancer-causing mutation. After that, they tested hundreds of molecules, hunting relentlessly for a way in to the evasive KRAS protein mutation connected to pancreatic cancer. Their dogged efforts highlight the importance of basic research.

"It was a lot of trial and error, tweaking the branches of these molecules to position them in this incredibly tight space," said Shokat, a professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at UCSF. "Some got close, then failed, and we would start over."