Pancreatic Cancer Research
In recent years, researchers have made significant strides in the fight against all types of cancer.
While a cure for advanced pancreatic cancer remains elusive, we're closer than ever to developing lifesaving techniques for earlier detection and therapies to prevent its spread.
At UC San Diego Health, we are particularly excited about our scientific studies. For example, our researchers have created advanced mouse models of human pancreatic cancer, enabling the study of all stages of the disease — from pre-invasive to metastatic. As scientists learn more about pancreatic cancer's genetics and molecular biology, we may be just a few years away from groundbreaking discoveries.
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).
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.
Clinical Trials & Research Studies
Explore these research studies, which involve people, and are testing new ways to diagnose and treat pancreatic cancer.
Accelerating the New Treatment Options
The Precision Promise adaptive clinical trial seeks to accelerate the development of treatment options for pancreatic cancer patients. Andrew Lowy, MD, is the principal investigator for UC San Diego Health, one of 12 initial sites selected to participate in this trial.
Early Diagnosis and Cancer Prevention
Researchers are gathering patient pathology reports and imaging records to understand the earliest stages of pancreatic cancer and the natural progression of pancreatic cysts. This multi-center study will involve 300 volunteers, with 100 participants enrolled at UC San Diego Health. For more about the study, contact Shirley Tejidor at stejidor@ucsd.edu.
Our Research Partners
We are part of the Cancer Centers Council: C3-Pancreatic Cancer Research Group. This partnership aims to leverage the special collaborative opportunities among the three NCI-designated cancer centers in San Diego to advance the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and ultimate cure of pancreatic cancer. We will achieve this by:
- Facilitating collaborative cancer research
- Leveraging resources, including shared resources, and expertise
- Organizing joint scientific initiatives
- Facilitating interactions with other research entities in the public and private sector
We are also part of the UC Pancreatic Cancer Consortium, which harnesses the research power of all the UC academic medical centers to accelerate the early detection and successful treatment of pancreatic cancer. Search for a Clinical Trial at UC Health