Laboratory studies by University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) researchers have shown that the drug triphendiol (NV-196) causes cell death in pancreatic and bile duct cancer cell lines, slows tumor growth and sensitizes tumors to chemotherapy treatments.

Although approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a palliative treatment for cancer patients who have developed bile-duct obstructions, biliary stents are sometimes used “off-label” for the treatment of peripheral vascular disease (PVD).

While some targeted therapies – drugs developed to attack specific molecules in the critical chemical pathways occurring within cancer cells – work well by themselves, increasingly researchers are finding that they work better when teamed with other targeted and conventional therapies.