Today, thanks to advances in cancer genetics made by the team at Johns Hopkins we now understand that pancreatic cancer is fundamentally a genetic disease- a disease caused by inherited and acquired DNA mutations. Because of this fundamental advance made by Hopkins researchers we can now attack pancreatic cancer on multiple fronts. The research program at Johns Hopkins is broad and deep with over 20 full-time faculty members, and it includes:

1. basic science studies of how the pancreas forms embryologically,
2. cutting-edge genetic analyses of surgically resected cancers,
3. studies of the genetics of familial pancreatic cancer,
4. research into the precursor lesions that give rise to invasive pancreatic cancer,
5. the development of new screening tests for early pancreatic cancer (just as there is a PSA test for prostate cancer, so too do we need a test for early curable pancreatic cancer),
6. the development and testing of new therapies including a novel vaccine-based therapy to treat pancreatic cancer, and
7. studies of advanced/metastatic pancreatic cancer.

Simply put, today we can attack pancreatic cancer in the lab in ways that we could not have imagined ten years ago. This section summarizes some of the ongoing work of the Hopkins team. If you would like to make a donation to support this research, click here.

Pages in this section:
Genetics - Kern Lab
Early Detection- Goggins Lab
Sol Goldman Center
PC Discoveries at Johns Hopkins

The links to the left provides information on the research programs at Johns Hopkins as well as the advances made by Hopkins researchers.