2023 Early Detection Grant (Marianne Allan Pancreatic Cancer Research Grant)

Project Summary

We have discovered a panel of protein markers in the blood that can identify early pancreatic cancer in patients. Our goal is to validate that these proteins reliably detect early pancreatic cancer, and to understand whether this signature can also predict patient treatment response and survival. To achieve this goal, we will utilise our world-leading pancreatic cancer registry to identify patients diagnosed with early disease. Our registry tracks the treatment journey of patients at 48 cancer centres across Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, with over 4000 patients and 600 blood samples currently available. We will utilise state-of-the art technologies and computational methodologies to compare the protein signature in the blood of healthy individuals, to pancreatic cancer patients with early-stage disease and those with late-stage disease. Following the completion of our project, we will be able to develop our discovery into a test that could be used by general practitioners to identify patients with disease or could be used by oncologists to identify the right treatment for patients.