scholarly journals The Florida Pancreas Collaborative Next-Generation Biobank: Infrastructure to Reduce Disparities and Improve Survival for a Diverse Cohort of Patients with Pancreatic Cancer

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 809
Author(s):  
Jennifer Permuth ◽  
Kaleena Dezsi ◽  
Shraddha Vyas ◽  
Karla Ali ◽  
Toni Basinski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pancreatic Cancer ◽  
Pancreatic Tumor ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Multidisciplinary Teams ◽  
Critical Gap ◽  
Management Platform ◽  
Medical Institutions ◽  
Computed Tomography Scans ◽  
Donated Blood ◽  
Data Management Platform

Background: Well-annotated, high-quality biorepositories provide a valuable platform to support translational research. However, most biorepositories have poor representation of minority groups, limiting the ability to address health disparities. Methods: We describe the establishment of the Florida Pancreas Collaborative (FPC), the first state-wide prospective cohort study and biorepository designed to address the higher burden of pancreatic cancer (PaCa) in African Americans (AA) compared to Non-Hispanic Whites (NHW) and Hispanic/Latinx (H/L). We provide an overview of stakeholders; study eligibility and design; recruitment strategies; standard operating procedures to collect, process, store, and transfer biospecimens, medical images, and data; our cloud-based data management platform; and progress regarding recruitment and biobanking. Results: The FPC consists of multidisciplinary teams from fifteen Florida medical institutions. From March 2019 through August 2020, 350 patients were assessed for eligibility, 323 met inclusion/exclusion criteria, and 305 (94%) enrolled, including 228 NHW, 30 AA, and 47 H/L, with 94%, 100%, and 94% participation rates, respectively. A high percentage of participants have donated blood (87%), pancreatic tumor tissue (41%), computed tomography scans (76%), and questionnaires (62%). Conclusions: This biorepository addresses a critical gap in PaCa research and has potential to advance translational studies intended to minimize disparities and reduce PaCa-related morbidity and mortality.

scholarly journals The Florida Pancreas Collaborative Next-Generation Biobank: State-wide Infrastructure to Reduce Disparities and Improve Survival for a Racially and Ethnically Diverse Cohort of Patients with Pancreatic Cancer

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer B. Permuth ◽  
Kaleena B. Dezsi ◽  
Shraddha Vyas ◽  
Karla N. Ali ◽  
Toni L. Basinski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pancreatic Cancer ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Clinical Population ◽  
Multidisciplinary Teams ◽  
Critical Gap ◽  
Management Platform ◽  
Institutional Infrastructure ◽  
Donated Blood ◽  
Prospective Longitudinal

AbstractBackgroundWell-annotated, high-quality biorepositories provide a valuable platform to support translational research and discovery. However, most biorepositories have poor representation of minority groups, limiting the ability to address cancer health disparities and improve disease outcomes. This report describes the establishment of the Florida Pancreas Collaborative (FPC), the first state-wide prospective longitudinal cohort study and biorepository specifically designed to address the higher burden of pancreatic cancer (PaCa) in African Americans (AA) compared to Non-Hispanic Whites (NHW) and Hispanic/Latinx (H/L).MethodsWe describe rationale for establishing the FPC and provide an overview of key stakeholders; study eligibility and design; ascertainment and recruitment strategies; and standard operating procedures (SOPs) developed to collect, process, store, and transfer biospecimens, medical images, and data. We also describe the customized cloud-based, secure data management platform built to facilitate recruitment, track study-related workflow, house data, and perform queries. We also present progress to date regarding recruitment and biobanking.ResultsThe FPC consists of multidisciplinary teams from fifteen Florida medical institutions. From March 2019 through August 2020, 350 patients were assessed for study eligibility, 323 met inclusion/exclusion criteria, and 305 (94%) enrolled, including 228 NHW, 30 AA, and 47 H/L, with 94%, 100%, and 94% participation rates, respectively. A high percentage of participants have donated blood (87%), pancreatic tumor tissue (41%), computed tomography scans (76%), and baseline questionnaire data (62%).ConclusionsThis biorepository addresses a critical gap in PaCa research with the potential to advance basic, clinical, population-based, and translational studies intended to minimize disparities, increase quality of life, and reduce PaCa-related morbidity and mortality.ImpactThis multi-institutional infrastructure can serve as a prototype for development of similar resources across the country and disease sites.

scholarly journals Targeting galectin-1 inhibits pancreatic cancer progression by modulating tumor–stroma crosstalk

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (16) ◽  
pp. E3769-E3778 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos A. Orozco ◽  
Neus Martinez-Bosch ◽  
Pedro E. Guerrero ◽  
Judith Vinaixa ◽  
Tomás Dalotto-Moreno ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pancreatic Cancer ◽  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Cancer Progression ◽  
Pancreatic Tumor ◽  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Tumor Formation ◽  
Pancreatic Stellate Cells ◽  
Ductal Adenocarcinoma ◽  
Migration And Invasion ◽  
Regulatory Pathways

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) remains one of the most lethal tumor types, with extremely low survival rates due to late diagnosis and resistance to standard therapies. A more comprehensive understanding of the complexity of PDA pathobiology, and especially of the role of the tumor microenvironment in disease progression, should pave the way for therapies to improve patient response rates. In this study, we identify galectin-1 (Gal1), a glycan-binding protein that is highly overexpressed in PDA stroma, as a major driver of pancreatic cancer progression. Genetic deletion of Gal1 in a Kras-driven mouse model of PDA (Ela-KrasG12Vp53−/−) results in a significant increase in survival through mechanisms involving decreased stroma activation, attenuated vascularization, and enhanced T cell infiltration leading to diminished metastasis rates. In a human setting, human pancreatic stellate cells (HPSCs) promote cancer proliferation, migration, and invasion via Gal1-driven pathways. Moreover, in vivo orthotopic coinjection of pancreatic tumor cells with Gal1-depleted HPSCs leads to impaired tumor formation and metastasis in mice. Gene-expression analyses of pancreatic tumor cells exposed to Gal1 reveal modulation of multiple regulatory pathways involved in tumor progression. Thus, Gal1 hierarchically regulates different events implicated in PDA biology including tumor cell proliferation, invasion, angiogenesis, inflammation, and metastasis, highlighting the broad therapeutic potential of Gal1-specific inhibitors, either alone or in combination with other therapeutic modalities.

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