Shubham Pant, Professor of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology and Investigational Cancer Therapeutics at MD Anderson Cancer Center, shared on LinkedIn:
“People often ask me, “What’s next in pancreatic cancer?”
With the progress in pan-RAS inhibitors and KRAS G12D inhibitors moving through clinical trials, there is certainly a lot to be excited about. One area I am particularly interested in is PRMT5 inhibition.
Approximately 20–25% of pancreatic cancers have MTAP loss, which creates a unique therapeutic vulnerability that we can potentially exploit with MTA-cooperative PRMT5 inhibitors. We are already seeing encouraging early clinical activity with these agents, both alone and in combination with chemotherapy and RAS inhibitors. The key question now is whether we can build on these responses, improve their durability, and move these therapies into earlier disease stages.
At ESMO 2026, our faculty member and mentee, Pia Morelli presented our Trial-in-Progress poster evaluating navlimetostat, an MTA-cooperative PRMT5 inhibitor, in combination with chemotherapy in MTAP-deleted pancreatic cancer.
This phase II trial (NCT07283705) includes three cohorts:
- Resectable/borderline resectable: Navlimetostat + gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel, followed by surgery when appropriate, adjuvant treatment, and maintenance.
- Locally advanced: Navlimetostat + gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel.
- Metastatic: Navlimetostat + mFOLFIRINOX as first-line therapy.
What I particularly like about this Investigator-Initiated Trial is that it looks beyond metastatic disease and is also being activate at UT MD Anderson partner network sites.”
You can also read: Research and Advocacy Opportunity – Pancreatic Cancer Ireland Patient and Family Experience Survey
