Oral bacteria increasing risk
Jiyoung Ahn, PhD
2012 Career Development Award
Risk Factors
While missing teeth and poor dental health were
previously believed to be associated with an increased
risk of pancreatic cancer, no one was certain what was
causing the association. Dr. Ahn’s research supported by
the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network found that two
specific species of bacteria in the mouth are associated
with a more than 50 percent increased risk of pancreatic
cancer. These two bacteria could potentially serve as
biomarkers, or important biological clues, that could help
detect pancreatic cancer sooner in patients. Likewise,
this opens up the possibility of studying whether efforts
to reduce oral bacteria could decrease an individual’s risk
of pancreatic cancer. Ahn’s important findings were
recently published in a major publication, Gut, and were
featured at the 2016 and 2017 American Association for
Cancer Research Annual Meetings. She leveraged our
$200,000 grant to gather the data necessary to secure a
prestigious $2.8 million federal grant from the NCI.
Cyst juice to predict cancer risk
Michael Goggins, MD
2013 Research Acceleration Network
Early Detection
Finding out that you have a cyst on your pancreas is a
terrifying moment of uncertainty. What are the chances
of the cyst becoming cancer? How soon should I take
action and start treatment? To date, doctors have been
unable to answer these questions with much certainty.
Dr. Goggins and his research team are looking at the
“juice” (fluid) from pancreatic cysts and determining
the genetic features that predict the likelihood of
progressing to cancer or remaining benign. Using this
information in their high-risk screening program that is
active at sites throughout the country, this research will
improve outcomes for patients with pancreatic cancer
while also sparing those with benign cysts from invasive
procedures and toxic treatments.
“Stop the Start” - Understanding
which cells lead to pancreatic cancer
Jennifer Bailey, PhD
2011 Pathway to Leadership
STOP
Understanding the Biology
Dr. Bailey’s project, called “Stop the Start,” focuses on
pinpointing the very earliest events that cause normal
pancreas cells to become cancerous and identifying the
genetic alterations responsible. Importantly, her work
successfully challenged and uprooted a long-held
dogma in the field that pancreatic “ductal”
adenocarcinoma only came from ductal cells. We now
know that this is not true thanks to Bailey’s
groundbreaking research which has been detailed in a
number of leading publications. Understanding the
biology of the normal cells within the pancreas helps
identify which genetic changes take place to allow
transformation into cancer cells – and each of those
changes represents a potential drug target or a marker
that could improve early detection. Bailey received this
grant as a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins
University, and she is now an independent investigator at
University of Texas Health Science Center.
Secret passage through stroma
Kazuki Sugahara, MD, PhD
2012 Career Development Award
and 2015 Translational
New Treatment
The complex and dense “stroma” surrounding pancreatic
cancer cells has been a major barrier to delivering drugs
to kill pancreatic cancer cells. Funded by two grants
from the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, Dr.
Sugahara is developing a novel peptide that acts as a
unique key to unlock a previously unknown secret door
through the stroma to allow treatments to reach and
kill cancer cells directly. His goal for his 2015
Translational Grant (with Andy Lowy co-PI) is to submit
an Investigational New Drug application to the FDA in
order to begin testing his treatment strategy in humans.
Research Grants Key Stats:
• Since 2003, we've awarded over $48.5 million through a competitive peer-reviewed process - including 159 grants
to 158 researchers at 58 institutions across the country.
• Over our first decade of funding research, we supported 92 grantees who went on to publish 1,191 articles in
peer-reviewed journals, cited more than 13,000 times. These grantees have leveraged each $1 from us to gain
$8.28 in subsequent pancreatic cancer research funding.
• New grant opportunities open in fall of 2017.
To learn more and help make progress, visit pancan.org/research.
NOVEMBER 2018
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