Marina Pasca di Magliano, Ph.D., left, and Howard Crawford, Ph.D., collaborate on pancreatic cancer research at UMHS.
Two decades ago, Howard Crawford, Ph.D., dedicated himself to basic science research exploring the biology of various cancers. Having already lost several members of his family to the disease, he immersed himself in the molecular nuances of many cancers, thinking that they were all alike.
Today, Crawford directs one of the nation’s leading pancreas research programs here at U-M. What he learned 20 years ago — and what still drives him today — was this: mortality rates for pancreatic cancer are higher than all other common forms of cancer, and this year it surpassed breast cancer to become the third most common cause of cancer-related deaths. Only 8 percent of patients with pancreatic cancer live five years after diagnosis. 70 percent don’t survive a single year.
To put those statistics in perspective, an estimated 53,000 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year, and nearly 48,000 will die from it, according to the National Institutes of Health.
November is National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, and today marks World Pancreatic Cancer Day.
The biology behind pancreatic cancer makes it a difficult disease to fight.
First, there are very few specific symptoms, meaning it usually goes undetected until the latest stages. The organ is located centrally within the body, making it a challenge to image, and there are no good blood tests for detection either.
Finally, most of the tumor is made up of dense scar tissue, impeding blood flow and blocking the delivery of therapeutic agents.
Crawford has teamed with Marina Pasca di Magliano, Ph.D., associate professor of surgery and cell and development biology, along with other collaborators from the Pancreas Research Program, to devise a method of modifying the microenvironment of pancreatic cancers in such a way that immunotherapy — a type of treatment that uses a person’s own immune system to fight the disease — can become effective in overcoming pancreatic cancer.
“Immunotherapy has shown incredible promise in the treatment of other cancers. But the results in pancreatic cancer clinical trials have been disappointing. We aim to change that,” said Crawford.
Their ideas recently received support from President Barack Obama’s Cancer Moonshot initiative through a $500,000 supplement to the Cancer Center from the National Institutes of Health.
“Marina’s lab and my lab, working together, have found a potential solution that we hope will improve immunotherapy as a treatment in the future,” Crawford said. “We’re looking at using FDA-approved drugs in novel combinations with immunotherapeutic agents to help treat patients.
Crawford acknowledges that his current project will take time and may not be able to help those facing a recent diagnosis, a reality that is both difficult and motivating.
To learn more about pancreatic cancer or to support the cause, check out the Sky Foundation in Detroit or the national advocacy group, Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.