On June 1, 2015, Dr. Tom Hudson, president and scientific director of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) announced that OICR is investing $4.6 million over two years in PanCuRx, an initiative that seeks solutions to the high fatality rate of pancreatic cancer. Researchers from the fields of genomics, pathology, cancer biology and informatics, as well as clinician scientists will work together to better understand pancreatic cancer on a molecular level and develop better, more personalized diagnostics and therapies for patients. The research will focus on pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the most common type of pancreatic cancer.
“There have been huge scientific advances over the past few decades on many types of cancer, but statistics on pancreatic cancer have remained largely unchanged,” said Dr. Tom Hudson, President and Scientific Director of OICR. “OICR is proud today to announce support for PanCuRx and help to improve these statistics and bring new solutions to patients.”
PanCuRx’s will allow teams of researchers to combine clinical practice and lab research. Its integration with the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre’s translational PDAC program will ensure that in addition to increasing understanding of the disease more generally, the research will directly inform the treatment strategy of patients who participate.
“The focus of PanCuRx is to ensure we bring the patients closer to the research and the research closer to the patients,” said Dr. Steven Gallinger, surgical oncologist and head of Hepatobiliary/Pancreatic Surgical Oncology Program at University Health Network, senior investigator of Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital and leader of the PanCuRx initiative. “By working together among disciplines and between the research and clinical components we feel much more can be accomplished and we have a real chance of making an impact on improving outcomes for PDAC patients.”
