New Research in JNCCN Evaluates Cost-Effectiveness of Olaparib, a PARP Inhibitor, for Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer

New research in the November 2020 issue of JNCCN identifies metastatic pancreatic cancer patient subgroups with the highest relative cost-effectiveness from maintenance olaparib, a PARP inhibitor.

Expert alert: Changing the outlook for pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer often is hidden and doesn’t cause symptoms until it has spread. It is a leading cause of cancer deaths in the world.

November 19 is World Pancreatic Cancer Day, but the entire month of November is meant to bring awareness to this disease.

Advances in screening and early detection for high-risk people, minimally invasive surgical innovations and new genetic classifications are changing the outlook for pancreatic cancer, says Dr. Michael Wallace, a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist.

Moderate-pace Walking Shrunk Pancreatic Cancer Tumors and Increased Cancer-killing Cells, Small Study Shows

Emily LaVoy, PhD, of the University of Houston, and colleagues explored the effects of moderate-intensity exercise on a mouse model of pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer can be a particularly dangerous form of cancer because it is often diagnosed in later stages and spreads quickly. Though the trial sample was small—thus warranting further study—the results were optimistic.

New experimental blood test determines which pancreatic cancers will respond to treatment

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Oct. 22, 2020) — Scientists have developed a simple, experimental blood test that distinguishes pancreatic cancers that respond to treatment from those that do not. This critical distinction could one day guide therapeutic decisions and spare patients with resistant cancers from undergoing unnecessary treatments with challenging side effects.

Deirdre J. Cohen, MD, MS, Appointed as Director of Gastrointestinal Oncology Program of Mount Sinai Health System

Deirdre J. Cohen, MD, MS, an expert in pancreatic and other gastrointestinal cancers as well as an accomplished clinical trial leader has joined Mount Sinai Health System as Director of the Gastrointestinal (GI) Oncology Program and Medical Director of the Cancer Clinical Trials Office at The Tisch Cancer Institute.

Scientists discover novel drug target for pancreatic cancer

Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute have uncovered a novel drug target, a protein called PPP1R1B, that stops the deadly spread of pancreatic cancer, called metastasis, when inhibited in mice. Published in Gastroenterology, the findings are a first step toward a potential treatment for one of the deadliest cancers known today.

Preventing pancreatic cancer metastasis by keeping cells “sheltered in place”

Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute have shown that pancreatic cancer metastasis—when tumor cells gain the deadly ability to migrate to new parts of the body—can be suppressed by inhibiting a protein called Slug that regulates cell movement. The study, published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, also revealed two druggable targets that interact with Slug and hold promise as treatments that may stop the spread of pancreatic cancer.

Researchers identify therapeutic targets to prevent cancer-associated muscle loss

Researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center have identified a key cell signaling pathway that drives the devastating muscle loss, or cachexia, suffered by many cancer patients. The study, which will be published May 22 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, suggests that targeting this pathway with a drug already in phase 2 clinical trials for diabetes could prevent this syndrome.

Roswell Park Team Proposes Strategy for Making Pancreatic Tumors Respond to Checkpoint Inhibition

A possible new strategy for treating pancreatic cancer highlights the promise of collaboration between experts in both precision medicine and immunology. The findings from a team led by Agnieszka Witkiewicz, MD, and Erik Knudsen, PhD, at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and published today in the journal Gut suggest a combination treatment approach that can make some breakthrough immunotherapy drugs effective for more patients with pancreatic cancer.

Cedars-Sinai to Study How Fat May Promote Cancer Spread to Liver

A diagnosis of pancreatic or colon cancer often sparks dread about the disease’s likely next destination: the liver. That’s because liver metastasis is a leading cause of death in these patients. A Cedars-Sinai scientific team has been awarded a $9.1 million grant by the National Cancer Institute to study this often-fatal process, with the goal of understanding how cancer spreads to the liver and finding ways to block it.

Updated Genetic Screening Guidelines Published by National Comprehensive Cancer Network Feature Emerging Evidence on Personalized Medicine

NCCN Guidelines for Genetic/Familial Risk Assessment: Breast, Ovarian, and Pancreatic updated with new and expanded sections on risk assessment and management related to three major cancer types.

One-two punch drug combination offers hope for pancreatic cancer therapy

Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute have identified a combination of two anti-cancer compounds that shrank pancreatic tumors in mice—supporting the immediate evaluation of the drugs in a clinical trial. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)–approved versions of the compounds are used today to treat certain leukemias and solid tumors, including melanoma. The study was published in Nature Cell Biology.

Atlantic Health System Cancer Care Enrolling Patients in Innovative Pancreatic Cancer Clinical Trials

November is national Pancreatic Cancer Awareness month. This year alone, more than 56,000 Americans will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic tumors are particularly aggressive and hard to treat “due to a mutational profile that makes it resistant to therapies that work better for other tumor types,” explains Angela Alistar, MD, medical director of GI oncology at Morristown Medical Center. Dr. Alistar, an internationally known expert on pancreatic cancer, is now enrolling patients in five clinical trials aimed at pancreatic cancer.

Vaccine to Block Digestive Hormone May Slow Growth of Pancreatic Cancer

New research suggests a vaccine that blocks a digestive hormone may slow the spread of pancreatic cancer, potentially increasing survival rates. The study, published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology—Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, was chosen as an APSselect article for October.