A major goal of the David M. Rubenstein Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research (CPCR) is to bring together multidisciplinary teams of basic, translational, and clinical scientists to pursue groundbreaking research focused on pancreatic cancer. These efforts focus on a broad range of questions relevant to our understanding of pancreatic cancer as well as to our ability to control the disease. The CPCR has spearheaded key strategic initiatives and supported the creation of multiple focus groups.
Tracking of Pancreatic Cancer Regression and Resistance (TOPCOAT)
Launched in 2020, the TOPCOAT initiative uses longitudinal tissue and blood specimens collected from patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors across the continuum of care. The project has the following objectives:
- Identify new targets for treatments
- Find patterns in how the cancer changes while patients are on treatment
- Identify possible biomarkers that could allow for early detection of the disease
- Identify possible biomarkers that could allow for early detection of changes in cancer’s response to treatment
The initiative is a collaborative effort among investigators in the Division of Solid Tumor Oncology, the Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgical Service, and the Department of Radiation Oncology, as well as other experts in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. It aims to collect samples from 160 unique patients.
Scientific Leads: Alice Wei, Christine Iacobuzio-Donahue, Eileen O’Reilly
Organoids
Organoids are living, 3-D cell cultures that can act as avatars for a particular patient. When grown from a pancreatic tumor or metastatic tissue, these cultures contain the same mutations as and display key features of the original tumor. Organoids can offer meaningful insights into how cancer develops and progresses. They also can be used for drug screening. CPCR researchers led by Nicolas Lecomte are pioneering efforts using organoids derived from MSK patients to personalize cancer treatment, by determining which therapies may be most effective for each individual’s cancer.
Organoid research also holds particular promise for illuminating the pathways that cancer cells use to evade treatment over time. More than 200 pancreatic cancer organoid cultures have been developed at MSK to date. Organoids developed by CPCR scientists already have been used to screen more than 1,500 existing drugs, giving rise to dozens of promising candidates that could potentially be repurposed to treat pancreatic cancer.
Scientific Leads: Nicolas Lecomte, Christine Iacobuzio-Donahue