# Impact of Inflammatory Pathway in Tumor Stroma on Pancreatic Cancer Growth

> **NIH VA I01** · BIRMINGHAM VA MEDICAL CENTER · 2021 · —

## Abstract

Despite recent advances, pancreatic cancer patients continue to have dismal outcomes thereby
underscoring the need for development of new therapeutic strategies. Recently, there has been
a resurgence in understanding the role played by stroma in supporting tumor growth and the
stroma- cancer cell cross talk continues to be a promising anti-cancer target. Previous research
has shown that NFκB, the master regulator of inflammation, is overexpressed in various cancer
cells, and its deletion in the pancreas leads to decreased tumor formation in genetically
engineered mouse models of pancreatic cancer. However, the impact of NFκB signaling in
tumor stroma on pancreatic cancer growth is still unclear. Preliminary results from our lab
suggest that NFκB signaling in pancreatic cancer stroma is pro-tumorigenic and protects cancer
cells from T cell-dependent tumor elimination. Our in vitro studies and analysis of TCGA human
pancreatic cancer data suggest that CCL5 or RANTES may be one of the key cytokines that
mediates this pro- tumorigenic effect. In the current grant, we propose to corroborate our novel
findings and the overall aim of this study is to investigate the mechanisms by which NFκB in
tumor stroma protects cancer cells from immune- mediated cell death. We are confident that the
successful completion of this study could provide new insights into the role played by stromal
NFκB/CCL5 in pancreatic cancer growth and metastases. These findings could be used to
enhance the efficacy of immune checkpoint therapy which, so far, has had limited success
against pancreatic cancer.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10111345
- **Project number:** 5I01BX004944-03
- **Recipient organization:** BIRMINGHAM VA MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** VIKAS DUDEJA
- **Activity code:** I01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-04-01 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10111345

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10111345, Impact of Inflammatory Pathway in Tumor Stroma on Pancreatic Cancer Growth (5I01BX004944-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10111345. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*