What's New 2008
Hopkins Scientists Create a Fish Model of Pancreatic Cancer
June 24, 2008
One of the major road blocks to the study of pancreatic cancer has been the absence of a good animal model of this disease. Scientists at Johns Hopkins previously collaborated with Dr. Tuveson in the creation of the first mouse model of pancreatic cancer. This week, Dr. Steven Leach and colleagues at Johns Hopkins announced that they have created a fish model of pancreatic cancer. Dr. Leach and colleagues generated the fish by inserting mutant KRAS genes into the fish pancreas. KRAS is the gene most commonly mutated in human pancreatic cancer. The cancers that developed in the fish showed several features in common with the human disease. The authors conclude that their results provide a unique view of the tumor-initiating effects of the KRAS gene in a living vertebrate organism, and suggest that zebrafish models of pancreatic cancer may prove useful in advancing our understanding of the human disease.
Johns Hopkins Pancreas Multidisciplinary Cancer Clinic
June 11, 2008
In the Annals of Surgical Oncology Dr. Timothy Pawlik and colleagues from Johns Hopkins report the findings from the first year of the Johns Hopkins Multidisciplinary Pancreatic Cancer Clinic. They compared the clinical care recommendations generated by the multidisciplinary clinic with the recommendations the patients received prior to coming to the clinic. Remarkably, 18.7% of the patients had a change in the status of their clinical stage. Review of the histological slides by dedicated pancreatic pathologists resulted in changes in the interpretation in another 3.4% of the patients. Overall, 23.6% of the patients had a change in their recommended management based on clinical review of their case at the Multidisciplinary Pancreatic Cancer Clinic. Dr. Pawlik and colleagues concluded that the single-day pancreatic multidisciplinary clinic provides a comprehensive and coordinated evaluation of patients that leads to changes in therapeutic recommendations in close to one-quarter of patients.
New IPMN FAQ Page Added
June 2008
We have added a new frequently asked questions page to the Patient Education section of this site. It's an FAQ on a type of precancerous lesion called the Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasm, or IPMN. We hope that it's helpful!
Matt Dallek's 60-Mile Bike Ride for Pancreatic Cancer Research
May 2008
This fall, a remarkable young man named Matt Dallek will go on a 60-mile bike ride through the civil war battlefields of Maryland to raise money for pancreatic cancer research at Johns Hopkins. Matt is wonderful, thoughtful and brave. You can learn more about Matt's remarkable story and read the e-mail Matt sent out announcing his ride.
Randy Pausch’s Journey with Pancreatic Cancer
April 2008
Many of you may have heard about Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University and father of three who has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Last September, Randy gave an inspirational “Last Lecture” at Carnegie Mellon entitled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.” Since that time, Randy’s lecture has garnered worldwide attention from both the public and the media, with appearances on Oprah Winfrey and Diane Sawyer. Importantly, on March 13, 2008, Randy testified before a US Senate subcommittee, advocating for greater federal funding for pancreatic cancer. Randy’s story is a testimony to the power of courage in the face of difficult battle: pancreatic cancer.
A number of you have asked for more information about Randy. We therefore thought it might be helpful to provide some key links.
Watch The Last Lecture on You Tube here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo
To read the transcript of Randy’s Last Lecture, click here:
http://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/Randy/pauschlastlecturetranscript.pdf
Visit Randy’s webpage to learn more about his personal journey with pancreatic cancer here:
http://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/
To see Randy Pausch on the Oprah Winfrey show, click here:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8577255250907450469
For information of Randy Pausch’s new book, click here:
http://www.amazon.com/Last-Lecture-Randy-Pausch/dp/1401323251
One way you too can help us fight this disease is by participating in research studies such as the NFPTR. To learn more, please click here.
To make a donation to pancreas cancer research at Johns Hopkins, please click here.
Congratulations Dr. Anirban Maitra!
On March 4th, 2008 Dr. Anirban Maitra, Associate Professor of Pathology and member of the Sol Goldman Pancreatic Cancer Research Center at Johns Hopkins, was awarded the Ramzi Cotran Young Investigator Award from the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology. This award was presented at the Academy's annual meeting in Denver. The Young Investigator Award recognizes a body of work which has contributed significantly to the diagnosis and understanding of human disease. Dr. Maitra received this important award because of his ground-breaking work on pancreatic cancer. A complete description of the award can be found on the Academy's web site (http://www.uscap.org) and then go to 2008 Annual Meeting and Program Book, then click on Ramzi Cotran Young Investigator Award - Anirban Maitra. Congratulations Dr. Maitra!