Researchers are developing first prognostic, therapeutic epigenetic biomarker for pancreatic cancer patients
By 2030, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the most lethal form of pancreatic cancer, is projected to become the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States.
Not only are therapeutic options limited, but nearly half of all PDAC patients who have their tumors removed surgically experience disease recurrence within a year, despite receiving additional chemotherapy. For more advanced stages, only about one-third of patients have a limited response to approved chemotherapy.
A team of researchers led by Dartmouth and Dartmouth-Hitchcock's Norris Cotton Cancer Center (NCCC) Director Steven D. Leach, MD, and Surajit Dhara, PhD, Senior Research Scientist in the Leach laboratory, in collaboration with colleagues at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Weill Cornell Medicine, are developing the first prognostic and therapeutic epigenetic biomarker for PDAC patients.