title: Antimetabolite Treatment for Pancreatic Cancer.
abstract: Pancreatic cancer is a deadly and aggressive disease. Less than 1% of diagnosed patients survive 5 years with an average survival time of only 4-8 months. The only option for metastatic pancreatic cancer is chemotherapy where only the antimetabolites gemcitabine and 5-fluorouracil are used clinically. Unfortunately, efforts to improve chemotherapy regimens by combining, 5-fluorouracil or gemcitabine with other drugs, such as cisplatin or oxaliplatin, have not increased cell killing or improved patient survival. The novel antimetabolite zebularine shows promise, inducing apoptosis and arresting cellular growth in various pancreatic cancer cell lines. However, resistance to these antimetabolites remains a problem highlighting the need to discover and develop new antimetabolites that will improve a patient's overall survival.
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Disparities Research and Molecular Medicine, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California, USA ; Department of Basic Sciences, Division of Biochemistry, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California, USA.
authors.forename: Malyn May Asuncion
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Valenzuela
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Sciences, Division of Biochemistry, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California, USA.
authors.forename: Jonathan W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Neidigh
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Disparities Research and Molecular Medicine, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California, USA ; Department of Basic Sciences, Division of Biochemistry, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California, USA.
authors.forename: Nathan R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Wall
keywords: 5FU; Chemotherapy; Gemcitabine; Pancreatic cancer; Platinum; Zebularine