Overview
Adenocarcinoma of the pancreas remains a major health problem in the 21st century. Today, it is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in the Western world. Approximately 480 new cases of pancreatic cancer are diagnosed each year in British Columbia.
While patients with other malignancies such as breast and colorectal cancers have experienced improvement in survival and in quality of life over the past decade, pancreatic cancer patients still have a dismal prognosis. Chemotherapy and radiation treatments are minimally effective or ineffective in prolonging survival, and are palliative at best.
Thus, pancreatic cancer represents a field of oncology in dire need of significant discoveries that will shed light on the pathophysiology of the disease and lead to the development of better therapies.
Who We Are
We are a network of researchers and clinicians from the BC Cancer Agency, Vancouver General Hospital, and the University of British Columbia, who work together as a unit with the goal of improving the prognosis of pancreatic cancer patients.
Our comprehensive, multi-disciplinary research program has four main objectives:
- To understand the genetics and biology of pancreatic cancer
- To identify novel drug targets and develop novel treatment strategies for pancreatic cancer
- To expedite the translation of research discovery in pancreatic cancer to clinical trials and practice
- To improve the overall survival and quality of life of pancreatic cancer patients locally and beyond
Acknowledgement: The Betty Ergas Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund of the BC Cancer Foundation.