Pancreatic cancer is the most deadly of all cancers. Early detection and new drug therapy is the key to aggressively destroy cancer cells in this vital organ in out bodies.
In the medical testing community there is no test that can detect early stages of pancreatic cancer and no cancer drug therapy that can completely destroy the cancer cells in the pancreas.
The Tuveson lab has developed mouse models of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) to discover biomarkers of early disease and to identify the pathways and druggable targets involved in the initiation, progression, and metastasis of PDA. Efforts are also underway to come up with efficacious therapeutic strategies.
“We have discovered that PDAC tumors contain a deficient and compressed vasculature that limits therapeutic delivery and therefore efficacy,” notes Dr. Tuveson. “Using these models we have uncovered several methods to correct or target these vascular deficits and promote response, and this information has led to the initiation of several clinical trials.
“At CSHL we will search for new vulnerabilities in PDAC neoplastic and microenvironmental cells, and evaluate these candidates in a futuristic 'Mouse Hospital' we are creating on campus.”
