Pancreatic Cancer Research

In recent years, researchers have made remarkable progress in the battle against all types of cancer. 

While there's still no cure for pancreatic cancer, we're getting closer to having techniques to detect the disease earlier, therapies to stop its spread, and possible curative treatments. 

At UC San Diego Health, scientific studies are particularly exciting. Our researchers have, for example, developed mouse models of human pancreatic cancer. These allow researchers to study all stages of the disease, from pre-invasive to metastatic. With an ever-increasing understanding of the genetics and molecular biology of pancreatic cancer, we may be only a few years away from very hopeful news. 

Research Goals

Explore some of our current research goals related to advancing pancreatic cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

Diagnosis at the Earliest Stages

Recent studies suggest that detecting pancreatic cancer at the earliest stage dramatically improves patient survival rates. UC San Diego Health is the clinical coordinating center for the Pancreatic Cancer Early Detection (PRECEDE) Consortium, an international, collaborative effort to improve 5-year patient survival rates within the next decade. Diane Simeone, MD, a surgical oncologist and director of Moores Cancer Center, is the study's founder and chair of its executive committee.

PRECEDE aims to address the challenges of early detection in people at high risk of pancreatic cancer in innovative ways. This includes studies to better understand pancreatic cancer prevention and risk, develop blood tests for early detection, and use artificial intelligence to improve our ability to find early-stage cancers through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

More About PRECEDE

Prevent the Rapid Spread of Pancreatic Cancer

A major challenge with treating pancreatic cancer successfully is the disease's ability to metastasize (spread) very fast. We've recently discovered an enzyme in pancreatic cancer cells that seems to turn on metastatic disease. A method to detect this enzyme may soon be tested in a clinical trial.

A Drug to Stop Pancreatic Cancer 

Pancreatic cancer is fueled by angiogenesis, the development of new blood vessels. Researchers have discovered that certain molecular pathways are important to a tumor’s ability to grow and spread. With this information, UC San Diego Health researchers have uncovered a class of drugs that may prevent cancer from accessing the blood supply by attacking:

• The cancer cells directly, causing them to die prematurely
• The blood vessels within pancreatic cancer.

A new therapy may be ready for clinical trials within two to three years.

Smart Bombs to Seek Out and Destroy

Our researchers have designed nanoparticles that act as “smart bombs” to deliver a payload of drugs selectively to tumor blood vessels, sparing normal tissue surrounding cancer. This allows for the delivery of very strong anti-cancer drugs. A new therapy may be ready for clinical trials in two or three years.