This team will develop a collection of biomarkers for pancreatic cancer which will be obtained from large clinical and molecular datasets with multiple cohorts. Specifically, they will look at rare gene variants, or modifications of the DNA, in specific regions which, when analyzed together, will predict an individual’s risk of developing pancreatic cancer. The datasets include the UK Biobank, European Study on Digestive Illnesses and Genetics, The Cancer Genome Atlas, and International Cancer Genome Consortium. This approach will be complemented with the examination of tumor microenvironmental factors which are associated with pancreatic cancer risk, including gene expression patterns and response to bacterial and viral infections. This is a high-risk, high-reward project that, if successful, will integrate clinical, genetic, and microenvironmental factors to revolutionize screening and risk-prediction for pancreatic cancer.
This team is part of the Pancreatic Cancer Collective, an initiative of Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research and Stand Up To Cancer.