About 32,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with pancreas cancer each year. This makes it one of the top ten cancers in terms of incidence. Due to its bleak outcome, pancreas cancer is one of the top five causes of cancer death in our country. Although historically pancreas cancer has received little research attention and few funds, Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) benefits from newly initiated research programs sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. Clinicians and researchers at HCI work to change the incidence and outcome of this serious disease, and the Pancreas Cancer Research Program (PCRP), one of the few such programs in the nation, spearheads this effort.

Sean Mulvihill, MD, senior director of clinical affairs at HCI, and James DiSario, MD, HCI physician and investigator, are co-directors of the PCRP, which started in January 2005. Three themes describe the program’s goals: prevention, early detection, and stopping the disease from metastasizing, or spreading to other organs. Nineteen clinical and basic science investigators and six support staff currently work in the PCRP, which includes about 20 clinical, epidemiological, and laboratory studies. Recent projects focus on genetics, biomarkers, imaging, and animal models, as well as a study that examines quality of life for people with pancreas cancer. “These studies benefit from HCI’s multidisciplinary researchers and the unique resources available here, such as the Utah Population Database,” says Nicole Omer, program manager. “The PCRP has grown rapidly and made tremendous progress in 2005.” In fact, the number of pancreas-related studies at HCI has doubled since 2004.