Career Foundation Fellowships from Pancreatic Cancer UK

Dr Shalini Rao and Dr Gianluca Mucciolo have each received fellowships from Pancreatic Cancer UK, together worth £550,000, to fund their research, which focuses on paving the way for new treatments and early detection of pancreatic cancer.

The two new research projects, “Understanding the causes of tumour growth in early pancreatic cancer” and “Identifying new treatments for advanced pancreatic cancer”, address crucial questions about the disease, which remains the deadliest common cancer.

Around 10,500 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year in the UK and in Cambridgeshire, 855 people were diagnosed between 2017-2021. Currently, more than half of people with pancreatic cancer die within three months of their diagnosis. Just 10 per cent of patients have surgery to remove their tumour – the only potentially curative treatment.

Unlike for other cancers, there are currently no screening programmes or tests to help doctors distinguish between people with minor health issues and someone who should be urgently referred to hospital for a scan.

The findings from Dr Shalini Rao’s project could pave the way to develop new biomarkers that would help to detect the disease at an early stage when it is most treatable. Dr Rao, Carroll Group, will create a map to study how proteins interact with each other in pancreatic cancer, with particular focus on transcription factors. Transcription factors are known to drive cancer growth and help it spread but they have never been mapped in this way before.

This approach has seen advances for other cancers, for example, it shed new light on molecules involved in driving the growth of breast cancer, leading to clinical trials of new treatments that aim to block this process. Investment into treatment and early detection research has meant other cancers, like breast cancer, have seen huge advancements in treatment options.

Pancreatic cancer tumours are unique in that, as well as cancer cells, they contain a large number of normal cells, for example immune system and structural cells, compared to other cancerous tumours. The cancer reprogrammes these normal cells so that they protect it and help it spread around the body.

Dr Mucciolo, Biffi Group, will focus on how pancreatic cancer cells reprogramme a specific type of cell called cancer-associated fibroblasts [CAFs] when they spread to the liver, which is the most common secondary site for pancreatic cancer. He will then investigate how CAFs help cancerous cells grow within the liver and will experiment blocking the processes of these cells with drugs, to see if it prevents growth and spread.

By targeting the normal cells in pancreatic cancer tumours, researchers may be able to overcome their protective role and find new treatments that are able to target pancreatic cancer that has spread around the body – something that hasn’t been possible before.

Prof Jason Carroll, Associate Director of Research Culture and Innovation at Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, a department of the University of Cambridge said

“Pancreatic cancer is a disease with a poor prognosis at present. At the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, we are increasingly turning our attention to cancers of unmet need and so are delighted that two of our outstanding postdoctoral researchers, Shalini and Gianluca, have received Career Foundation Fellowships from Pancreatic Cancer UK to continue their important work to investigate avenues for the disease’s earlier detection and treatment.”

Dr Chris Macdonald, Head of Research at Pancreatic Cancer UK said:

“Breakthroughs in the early detection and treatment of pancreatic cancer are desperately needed to help improve survival rates for people diagnosed with this devastating disease. These two projects will each provide valuable insight and increase our understanding in these key areas, with the ultimate goal of helping us to detect early, treat better and save lives. We’re also delighted that this funding will allow us to develop two promising researchers who are early in their careers, helping us to grow the pancreatic cancer community and accelerate the pace of progress.”