The  Lustgarten foundation funds creation of landmark library of biomarkers to speed research into early- detection of pancreatic cancer

Abstract

Compendium of 2,516 potential biomarkers published in April 2009 issue of PLoS Medicine

The Lustgarten Foundation, America's largest private foundation working solely on pancreatic cancer research, today announced that one of its grantees has completed the creation of the most comprehensive library ever compiled of biomarkers for pancreatic cancer.

The research, published in the peer-reviewed PLoS Medicine by the Public Library of Science, reports the results of a year of work to systematically curate and catalogue all published research on pancreatic cancer.  The review of 50,000 published articles identified 2,516 pancreatic biomarkers and then shortlisted 200 of these biomarkers as "excellent candidates" for further study.  Those that made this list were biomarkers that were reported in four or more published studies to be overexpressed - meaning that the proteins they make are in higher abundance in people with pancreatic cancer than in others.

Funded in part by The Lustgarten Foundation, the international research effort was led by Dr. Akhilesh Pandey, M.D., Ph.D., an associate professor at the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.  Pandey also is the founder and director of the Institute of Bioinformatics in Bangalore, India.

Pandey said his research was prompted by the fact that even leading cancer investigators were not sure about how many candidate biomarkers for pancreatic cancer had been identified or how they compared in clinical value.  He believed such a survey and catalogue could help speed research.  Biomarkers are valued for their ability to signal early warnings of clinically invisible cancers and other diseases.

Robert F. Vizza, Ph.D., president of The Lustgarten Foundation, said, "This research is an important step in identifying and prioritizing biomarker candidates for further research. The ultimate goal is to move from a cancer that is nearly impossible to detect in its early stages to one that can be diagnosed when it is still treatable."

"For the first time we now have a handle on the number of candidates already identified as possible clues to the presence of pancreatic cancer," Pandey said. "We believe this data is an absolute necessity and hope it will help scientists around the world make informed decisions and speed the research toward better diagnosis and treatment."

The research conducted by Pandey's team is part of The Lustgarten Foundation's two-year, $1.25 million commitment to a Pancreatic Cancer Biomarker Development Project to create antibodies for promising biomarker targets for pancreatic cancer. This library is currently being used as a resource by a consortium representing four leading cancer research organizations, including Canary Foundation, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, University of California at San Francisco, and Van Andel Research Institute, to prioritize and develop antibodies against the 60 most promising targets.

About Pancreatic Cancer and The Lustgarten Foundation

Pancreatic cancer is swift and silent, often undetected until it's too late. More than 34,000 people die from it each year. Of those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, less than five percent survive five years and most with advanced cancer die within a year. It is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States.

The Lustgarten Foundation, based in Bethpage, New York, is America's largest private foundation working solely on pancreatic cancer research.  Created in 1998 in honor of Marc Lustgarten, the former vice chairman of Cablevision who died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 52, the Foundation today provides critical support in the search for better diagnostics and treatment of pancreatic cancer. To learn more, visit www.lustgarten.org

Cablevision underwrites 100% of the Foundation's administrative costs so that all funding goes directly to supporting scientific research, facilitating dialogue within the medical and scientific community, and raising public awareness of the disease. Cablevision and The Lustgarten Foundation launched curePC, a national campaign to heighten awareness about pancreatic cancer and the need for more research. To learn more, visit www.curePC.org.

This study is available on the PLoS Medicine Web site at: http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info:doi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000046

Contact information

Alice Sofield, Chandler Chicco Companies, 202.609.6006 ph, [email protected]

Kerri Kaplan Executive Director,The Lustgarten Foundation,516.803.2305 ph, [email protected], www.lustgarten.org