(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Researchers at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center have discovered variations in mismatch repair genes can help predict treatment response and prognosis in patients with pancreatic cancer.

In their study, the researchers obtained DNA samples from 154 pancreatic cancer patients. They looked at why some patients respond to gemcitbaine, a major chemotherapeutic, and while others do not.

"There has been no biomarker for pancreatic cancer used in the clinic to predict response,” Donghui Li, Ph.D., the study's lead author and professor in M. D. Anderson's Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology was quoted as saying. “Our research interest has been to determine whether genetic variation in DNA repair can be a predictor of treatment response or a prognosis factor for patient survival."

If confirmed by other researchers, these findings could have a profound effect on how pancreatic cancer is treated. Having established biomarkers like abnormal mismatch repair genes, for example, would make choosing which patients might benefit from surgery much easier, Li explained.

SOURCE: Univ. of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center