Australian Pancreatic Cancer Alliance
Research
Breakthroughs in pancreatic cancer research are desperately needed. With the lowest five-year survival rate of all cancers in Australia (5% for males and 6% for females), it is shocking to think that these poor pancreatic cancer survival rates have not improved for nearly forty years.
Many other cancers have been successful in improving survival through improved diagnostic methods, earlier detection and better treatment options.
Garvan researchers are working, as part of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC), to catalogue the genetic changes involved in pancreatic cancer.
The Australian Pancreatic Cancer Genome Initiative (APGI) is the Australian arm of the international consortium. Together with collaborators from the Institute of Molecular Biosciences in Brisbane, and other specialists, Garvan researchers are examining genes from 400 pancreatic tumour samples with the aim of determining the exact genetic aberrations in each tumour. This information will help us to determine why some drug treatments work and why others do not, and will help researchers to design new drug therapies to specifically target the genetic aberrations in each tumour.
The information from this study, and in all of the ICGC projects, will be made freely available on the internet and will help the development of new diagnostic tools and targeted therapies for pancreatic cancer patients.
In the lab
For information about Garvan’s pancreatic cancer research, and its involvement with the ICGC visit http://www.pancreaticcancer.net.au/research/about-apgi
Pancreatic Registry
Pancare was founded to increase survival rates from pancreatic, liver, biliary, oesphagael and stomach cancers and to support people and families affected by these cancers. https://www.pancare.org.au/pancreatic-cancer-registry/
Clinical trials
The Individualised Molecular Pancreatic Cancer Therapy (IMPaCT) is a new clinical trial looking at individualising the treatment of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. To find out about the trial, recruitment criteria, locations and additional information, visit: