Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most lethal malignancies . The USFDA has now approved poly-ADP-ribose-polymerase inhibitors (PARPi) for patients with metastatic PDAC with BRCA1/2 mutations. However, these patients account for only 10% of the total PDAC patients. To benefit the rest of the patients with PDAC, scientists have found a new protein biomarker — METTL16 . When expressed abundantly, it can augment treatment with PARPi.
Mechanism of action It was also found that PDAC cells with elevated METTL16 expression showed an increased sensitivity to PARPi, particularly when combined with gemcitabine. Moreover, immunochemistry-based METTL16 expression tumor detection has the potential to be used in routine clinical practice before treatment-start. ##Reference## Zeng, X., Zhao, F., Cui, G. et al. METTL16 antagonizes MRE11-mediated DNA end resection and confers…
