CHANDLER, Ariz. (PRWEB)
November 09, 2021

The Onco’Zine Brief with Peter Hofland, Ph.D. released a new episode of the program via PRX | Public Radio Exchange in the (United States) and UK Health Radio (United Kingdom and Europe). The program is also available via podcast and streaming media.

In the latest episode of The Onco’Zine Brief, Hofland talks with Diane M. Simeone, MD, Principal Investigator of the Pancreatic Cancer Early Detection (PRECEDE) Consortium and Director of the Pancreatic Cancer Center at NYU Langone Health, and Tom Schoenherr, Chief Executive Officer of Ambry Genetics.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), a disease with a high degree of malignancy, is a common cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality. This is primarily due to difficulties in detecting early-stage disease and the aggressive behavior of the disease. And while multiple therapeutic strategies have been developed to treat pancreatic cancer, the outcomes of these approaches have, so far, been disappointing. [1]

According to the American Cancer Society, the disease is one of the deadliest cancers, with a 5-year survival rate of just 10 percent. [2]

“Pancreatic cancer is the cancer everybody hears about but doesn’t want to get. It’s been thought of as being uncommon, but over the years the incidence has been increasing. Unfortunately, the survival rate has remained quite low over the last decade or two,” said Simeone.

Challenges

In contrast to some other cancers, including breast cancer and colorectal cancer (CRC), early diagnoses of pancreatic cancer remains challenging.

“Early detection of colon cancer and breast cancer by the use of colonoscopy and mammography have been game-changers in improving survival in these two types of cancer. We don’t have a version of a colonoscopy for pancreatic cancer. We don’t have mammography like breast cancer does, and the 5-year survival rate for breast cancer is 90%. When you look at significant improvement with cancer survival rates, it’s often early detection that has made the most impact. It really needs to be our targeted focus in pancreatic cancer as well,” explained Simeone.

One of the most significant obstacles in advancing early detection and diagnosis is figuring out who is at elevated risk for pancreatic cancer. Efforts to tackle early detection in pancreatic cancer have been small in scale, disjointed, and inadequately funded. A large scale, collaborative effort will be needed to tackle this. The PRECEDE Consortium was established to develop a more organized and effective approach to tackle early detection at the scale and pace needed to have a meaningful impact on patient survival .

PRECEDE, a highly collaborative international effort comprised of over 39 leading academic medical centers across the globe, is committed to transforming the early detection and prevention of pancreatic cancer, with the aim of increasing the 5-year survival rate from 10 percent to 50 percent within the next 10 years.

“We believe this is the largest pancreatic cancer initiative in history. It will set the tone and stage for initiatives to come. I think this will be a catalyst to ignite a bigger spark for visibility on this issue,” said Tom Schoenherr, Chief Executive Officer for Ambry Genetics.

Building a Team

PRECEDE is made possible thanks to partnerships with REALM IDx and its subsidiaries, Ambry Genetics and Invicro. PRECEDE plans to analyze and standardize data curated through LATTICE™, an integrated diagnostics platform operating in the cloud.

“Some of the most cutting-edge technologies in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and genetics actually happens in the private sector. The key is finding the right partners with the same goals as the Consortium to help amplify our progress. That’s why we are working with our partners to create what we call the LATTICE™ project, a platform that runs operates in the cloud and utilizes a HIPAA-eligible service that helps organizations store, transform, query, and analyze health data. This platform will help researchers and clinicians gain new insights for detecting and preventing pancreatic cancer,” said Simeone

To learn more about the PRECEDE Consortium, visit Precedestudy.org and listen to the latest episode of The Onco’Zine Brief on your preferred listening app or via your network of choice. This episode (PRECEDE: Transforming the Early Detection and Prevention of Pancreatic Cancer) is available across multiple broadcast networks and podcast platforms, including PRX Public Radio Exchange, UK Health Radio, Spotify, Audible, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Google Podcasts, and many others.

About The Onco’Zine Brief

The Onco’Zine Brief, produced by Sunvalley Communication, the publishers of Onco’Zine and ADC Review | Journal of Antibody-drug Conjugates, is an interview and discussion program presented covering a broad range of topics and timely news updates with information from all oncology disciplines and sub-specialties from around the world. The Onco’Zine Brief, presented by Peter Hofland, Ph.D., is a sponsor-supported, program for healthcare professionals involved in the management and care of cancer patients as well as cancer patients and their family and friends. In the United States the program is distributed via PRX | Public Radio Exchange. In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). The program is also available via most podcasts and streaming media services, including Audible, iTunes, Spotify, and iHeart Radio. Check local listings for more information. For more information about The Onco’Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this radio broadcast and podcast download our Media Kit. To become a Sustaining member of the program, visit Patreon. For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco’Zine. To sign up for The Onco’Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866.

About the PRECEDE Consortium

Founded in 2018, The PRECEDE Consortium’s mission is to increase the survival of patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer from 10% to 50% in the next 10 years. This highly collaborative international effort includes partnerships with top researchers, industry and academic institutions, survivors, and families. Each partner is dedicated to improving early detection, screening, risk modeling, and prevention of this potentially devastating disease. The largest endeavor of its kind, PRECEDE aims to more accurately define who is at risk, determine at what level, and enroll them in state-of-the-art screening programs. Together, we can help put an end to pancreatic cancer. For for information go to precedestudy.org.

About REALM IDx, Inc.

REALM IDx, Inc. is a healthcare company in the field of Integrated Diagnostics (IDx), an advanced field of clinical science that brings together laboratory medicine, radiology, pathology, and sophisticated artificial intelligence to derive actionable insights that predict, diagnose, and treat disease. Powered by proprietary software platforms, best-in-class genomics technology from Ambry Genetics Corporation, and industry-leading radiology and pathology services from Invicro, LLC, the company collects, analyzes, and reports on multi-modal precision diagnostic data sets. REALM’s network of healthcare providers and pharmaceutical partners is expected to drive clinical access to innovations that may lead to better medical solutions for patient care. To learn more, visit REALMIDx.com.

Clinical trial

Pancreatic Cancer Early Detection Consortium (PRECEDE) – ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04970056.

Reference

[1] Gallo M, Adinolfi V, Morviducci L, Acquati S, Tuveri E, Ferrari P, Zatelli MC, Faggiano A, Argentiero A, Natalicchio A, D’Oronzo S, Danesi R, Gori S, Russo A, Montagnani M, Beretta GD, Di Bartolo P, Silvestris N, Giorgino F. Early prediction of pancreatic cancer from new-onset diabetes: an Associazione Italiana Oncologia Medica (AIOM)/Associazione Medici Diabetologi (AMD)/Società Italiana Endocrinologia (SIE)/Società Italiana Farmacologia (SIF) multidisciplinary consensus position paper. ESMO Open. 2021 Jun;6(3):100155. doi: 10.1016/j.esmoop.2021.100155. Epub 2021 May 19. PMID: 34020401; PMCID: PMC8144346.

[2] American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts & Figures 2021. Atlanta, Ga: American Cancer Society; 2021.

[3] National Cancer Institute (NCI) The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program. seer.cancer.gov/. Last accessed on October 26, 2021.