Pancreatic Cancer

Halting pancreatic cancer goes beyond finding treatments. It requires a comprehensive approach: non-invasive tests to catch it early, molecular studies to understand how it evolves, and new strategies for targeted therapies. That’s how we will improve a survival rate that remains stubbornly low—around 12 percent overall and closer to three percent for those with metastatic disease.

Halting this disease also demands a team approach–the kind we use at Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Your generous support helps us assemble a world class team, equip them with the latest tools, and support bold ideas early. Together, we are making IU a national leader in pancreatic cancer research and treatment. And above all, we’re making discoveries with the potential to save lives.

More than 90 laboratory scientists, oncologists, biostatisticians, and population scientists comprise the Pancreatic Cancer Challenges and Solutions Working Group dedicated to seeking solutions. This working group is led by IU researchers Melissa Fishel, PhD, Ashiq Masood, MD, and Purdue researcher Brittany Allen-Petersen, PhD. This dynamic team brings together researchers from IU, Purdue and Notre Dame—ensuring its multidisciplinary researchers can collaborate and move research advances quickly.

Often pancreatic cancer is found late when few treatment options are available. Detecting pancreatic cancer early could be a game-changer for many patients. Thanks to the Evan and Sue Ann Werling Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund, IU researchers are exploring how a urine-based test could detect pancreatic cancer long before symptoms appear.

Tim Lautenschlaeger, MD, Max Schmidt, MD, PhD, and Anita A. Turk, MD, have developed a urine test to detect circulating tumor DNA, or ctDNA, which is DNA released by cancer cells. While blood is most often used to detect ctDNA, researchers think urine would be more effective due to the larger sample volume, and it could allow for easy at-home testing. The group is collecting urine and blood samples from late-stage pancreatic cancer patients to study how well their test detects pancreatic cancer-related genetic mutations. They are then comparing the performance of their urine-based test with that of existing blood-based tests. Urine samples from early-stage pancreatic cancer patients are also being collected and compared to samples from healthy patients of similar age to determine the test’s ability to detect early-stage disease. Ultimately, they hope to create a simple pancreatic cancer screening method for those at risk of developing the disease.

Another urgent effort is to develop new treatments for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) as there are currently no FDA-approved targeted therapies for PDAC. This type of pancreatic cancer’s dominant activating mutation is on a specific gene called KRAS.

Xin Lu, PhD, Jun Wan, PhD, and Anita Turk, MD, received new technology pilot funding from the cancer center to implement and improve the clinical use of KRAS inhibitors as a single therapy. They will also explore combining KRAS with immunotherapy to treat this incurable cancer.

Pilot projects like these are funded by donors like you. These projects allow researchers to gather meaningful data to then apply for significant external funding.

Pancreatic cancer tumors and their environments are complex and harsh. So, IU researchers have developed state-of-the-art models to mimic those conditions–and patients play an invaluable role.

IU Health surgeons perform more pancreatic cancer surgeries than any other team in the nation. This high volume of surgeries yields diverse tumor samples that are stored in a tissue bank researchers can use in 3-D models. After surgeons remove tumors, patients can donate portions of their tumor tissue to a tissue bank at IU.This tissue can then be used in research settings to explore various mechanisms of cell survival, drug resistance and novel therapies with the use of organoids and patient-derived tumors grown in mice called PDX or patient-derived xenografts.  Already, more than 40 patients have contributed tissue samples to this PDX bank. These gifts are crucial for research and can be sources for cell-based studies or for growing and testing microtumors or organoids—a process we developed and now share with other institutions.

Tumor samples can teach us about pancreatic cancer’s deadly mechanisms and stubborn defenses. They could also be ideal proving grounds for drugs and combination therapies. IU has already used the tissue to explore why pancreatic patients often develop severe clotting issues. These modest amounts of tissue will help uncover insights that improve care.

Immunotherapy has become commonplace in treating aggressive diseases such as lung cancer and breast cancer. Unfortunately, pancreatic cancer cells are encased in dense tissue, making it hard for immune cells to break through and preventing immunotherapy from being effective. The cancer center is building its team of immunotherapy researchers, including recruits with pancreatic cancer expertise.

Drug discovery expert Karen Liby, MD, recently joined the IU School of Medicine and IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center as the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Professor of Hematology-Oncology. Liby’s research focuses on how the immune system and new combinations of drugs can fight different cancers, including pancreatic.

Another new recruit, Y. Alan Wang, PhD, is the Paige Brown Professor of Experimental Therapeutics at the Brown Center for Immunotherapy at IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center. Wang is part of a collaborative team exploring innovative solutions to overcome resistance to immunotherapy for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).