EARLY DETECTION AND DIAGNOSIS PRIMER AWARD
The Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Early Detection and Diagnosis Primer Award, with a financial value of £98,500.00, will help to advance the early detection and diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. This is only a third CRUK grant in the history of the University of Hull. The project "Early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer by proteomics and genomics testing of pancreatic cyst fluid" will start on the 1st November 2022.
Brief summary of the project. The timely diagnosis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is challenging. Detection of PDAC, ideally at a premalignant or early invasive stage, when surgery could be more effective, would greatly increase survival rates. About 10% of PDAC cases arise from a pancreatic cystic lesion, e.g. intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMN), which can be up to 30% of a typical pancreatic resective workload. Current international consensus (Fukuoka guidelines) on management of IPMNs cannot accurately predict association with carcinoma based on imaging. Pancreatic cyst fluid (PCyF) collected via endoscopic ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) has been explored for more accurate molecular diagnosis. However, current tests can yield inaccurate or uncertain results and insufficiently discriminate the pre-malignant pancreatic cysts from others. In this CRUK Early Detection and Diagnosis Primer Award study, we will analyse molecular changes associated with early stages of pancreatic carcinogenesis by using quantitative proteomics (QP) and whole genome sequencing (WGS) technologies coupled to utilisation of High Performance Computer Viper at the University of Hull.