A few months ago, the Spanish researcher Mariano Barbacid published a study on an experimental treatment for pancreatic cancer with promising results in mouse studies. This research has just been withdrawn from the journal of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States (PNAS), the publication where the article appeared, due to "a relevant undeclared conflict of interest at the time of submission," as indicated in the journal and reported by the newspaper El País.
The decision was made because several of the article's signatories, such as Barbacid himself and colleagues like Carmen Guerra and Vasiliki Liaki, did not disclose in the publication that they are co-owners of Vega Oncotargets, a company created specifically to develop new therapies against pancreatic cancer.
The withdrawn work, published on December 2, 2025, demonstrated the effectiveness, in mouse models, of a triple therapeutic combination against pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), one of the most aggressive and complex tumors to treat.
The work went relatively unnoticed for almost two months until a press conference was held on January 27 to present its conclusions by the CRIS Foundation against Cancer. Despite being a preclinical investigation conducted in mouse models, its conclusions had a significant impact and, in some media outlets, were overvalued, presenting the results as a cure for pancreatic cancer.
According to the published data, this triple therapy achieved complete and lasting regression of cancer in 45 mice with cancer, some of which had developed tumors after the graft of human tumor cells.
The research targets three key points against the tumor, the proteins KRAS, EGFR, and STAT3, which act as drivers of growth and resistance of tumor cells through a combined therapy based on the use of three drugs, already developed by other laboratories. The company created by Barbacid and other members of his laboratory was established with the aim of developing similar alternatives to these treatments.
However, this conflict of interest was not reflected in the scientific paper, a clear requirement for its publication. This is reflected in the journal's clarifications on why it has now withdrawn the article.
"Academy members who have a conflict of interest, financial or otherwise, that could be considered to significantly influence their objectivity, or create an unfair competitive advantage for any person or organization associated with the research, must submit their work as a Direct Submission," they indicate.
"The editors retract this article due to a relevant undeclared conflict of interest at the time of submission. The contributing author member of the NAS [National Academy of Sciences], Mariano Barbacid, and two co-authors, Vasiliki Liaki and Carmen Guerra, have financial interests in Vega Oncotargets," they conclude.