Many people adore actors and musicians for the entertainment they provide. That said, some celebrities go above and beyond making music and movies and perform acts of real altruism. Antonio Banderas, who has been a heartthrob for audiences worldwide since the early 90s, is doing something that may outlast his legacy as a film star. He’s funding Spanish molecular biochemist and cancer researcher Mariano Barbacid‘s work on a breakthrough treatment for pancreatic cancer.
A Potential Cure for One of the Most Lethal Cancers
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most dangerous types to contend with. It’s very aggressive, spreads rapidly, and symptoms don’t often appear until it’s already seriously advanced. Due to all of these factors, the survival rate for those diagnosed at stage for is around 3.2 percent. This means that those who receive treatment generally live for about a year after diagnosis.
There is no screening test for pancreatic cancer, which means that it’s usually diagnosed in stage 4 or later. Only about 12 percent of patients get diagnosed when the disease is limited to the pancreas. In most cases, it has already spread to the liver, lymph nodes, lungs, and bones. It’s only when patients experience abdominal pain, weight loss, and jaundice that they seek medical attention.
Thus far, surgery and chemotherapy have been the only treatment methods for this cancer. Considering that the prognosis is so grim, however, many patients choose palliative care instead of aggressive treatment.
Mariano Barbacid’s research may offer new hope, however.
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Mariano Barbacid’s Research on Pancreatic Cancer
Mariano Barbacid is a molecular biochemist from Spain. He first isolated the HRAS human oncogene in bladder cancer in 1982, and in 2003 he proved that the CDK2 enzyme wasn’t necessary for DNA replication to occur in cancer cells.
His breakthrough research in pancreatic cancer was published in December of 2025. In his paper, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America journal, discussed a therapy that regressed this type of cancer successfully. Furthermore, it also prevented tumor resistance. The research was done on a mouse model.
This past January, 2026, Barbacid published a new study about the combination of three targeted inhibitor drugs. In this study, he showed how this approach showed real promise in treating pancreatic cancer in animals.
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Antonio Banderas Steps In
Antonio Banderas, who has been winning hearts for over 40 years now, shared news of his financial support for Barbacid’s work on his official Instagram account. He showed a photo of Barbacid, with a message of how important it is to promote scientific breakthroughs. Banderas runs a philanthropic foundation called Lágrimas y Favores, which roughly translates to “tears and favors”. In his post, he said that in a world “marked by violence, confusion, disenchantment and stupidity”, the work by scientists and researchers such as Barbacid act as a beacon of hope in the darkness.
So far, over €3.5 million has been raised by numerous donors to support the next stage of Barbacid’s research. With any luck, a cure for pancreatic cancer may become a reality in the near future.
Featured Image by Gobierno de Castilla-La Mancha, via Flickr Creative Commons, license 2.0