Taher Saif Receives CCIL Seed Grant to Study Pancreatic Cancer Treatment

2/7/2025 Javeria Malik

Pancreatic cancer treatment is often hindered by the stiffness of the tumor microenvironment, which limits drug effectiveness. With support from a Cancer Center at Illinois seed grant, professor Taher Saif is developing a high-throughput stiffness sensor to enhance chemotherapy and CAR-T cell therapy. His research focuses on softening cancer-associated fibroblasts to improve drug penetration, significantly increasing treatment efficacy. Using patient-derived tumor organoids, his team is testing drug responses to optimize personalized therapies. While the immediate impact is on pancreatic cancer, the approach could extend to other solid tumors with stiffness-related drug resistance.

Written by Javeria Malik

Taher Saif, a member of the Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL), professor of mechanical science and engineering, and professor of bioengineering, received CCIL seed grant funding to enhance the treatment for pancreatic cancer through his research. CCIL seed grants provide funding that enables faculty teams to develop noble cancer research ideas, collect preliminary data and attract external funding.

Taher’s project “A High Throughput Stiffness Sensor for Testing Efficacy of Chemo and CAR-T Cell Therapy for Pancreatic Cancer” focuses on understanding and manipulating the tumour microenvironment to improve the efficacy of pancreatic cancer treatment. The research examines the mechanical stiffness of the cells in the tumour microenvironment. Taher explains that normally in the cancer microenvironments, the chemotherapy drugs are less effective due to the stiffness of the cancer associated fibroblasts. Fibroblasts are the cells surrounding the tumour which creates a stiff structure around the tumour.

This stiffness prevents the chemotherapy drugs from reaching the tumour effectively and eliminating the cancer cells. Hence the end goal is to soften the fibroblasts cells to increase the efficacy of the chemotherapy drugs. “This softening made the chemotherapy significantly more effective in targeting cancer cells,” said Taher.

Taher’s team is responsible for developing the advanced instrumentation required for the study and conducting the research. They utilize patient driven tumour organoids to replicate the tumour environment in vitro dishes. The team then tests the efficacy of the chemotherapy drugs to assess the tumour stiffness under different drugs.

“By relaxing the stiffness of the tumour microenvironment, we’ve observed a remarkable increase in drug efficacy,” Taher said. “This approach not only improves treatment outcomes but also paves the way for more personalized cancer therapies.”

In the short term, this research benefits pancreatic cancer patients and doctors. Over the long term, the findings and methodologies of this study have benefits beyond pancreatic cancer. The methods adopted in this study could be adapted to other solid tumours exhibiting stiffness related drug resistance.

“If we can predict which drug combinations are most effective for individual patients, we can significantly improve personalized treatment strategies,” said Taher.

Editor’s notes:

This research is reported in the paper, “Nuclear deformation regulates YAP dynamics in cancer associated fibroblasts,” and is available online here.

Taher Saif is the Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Professor in Mechanical Science and Engineering, a professor of the Department of Bioengineering, and a member of the Cancer Center at Illinois.

This story first appeared here on the Cancer Center at Illinois website.

He can be reached at saif@illinois.edu.

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This story was published February 7, 2025.