# DNA methylation, Liquid Biopsy, and Pancreatic Cancer

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA · 2022 · $215,284

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), has an overall survival rate of 9%, and detection of PDAC is a high
priority area for the NCI. Only 10-20% of patients with PDAC have a primarily resectable disease, while 50-
60% of patients are diagnosed with irresectable disease. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy maybe beneficial to
these patients. Disease monitoring of PDAC patients in the neoadjuvant setting is by Computed tomography
(CT) or detection of CA19-9 levels. These approaches can be imprecise and not predictive of tumor burden.
Thus, there is a need to develop sensitive and specific biomarkers to assess disease burden and monitor
patients with PDAC undergoing neoadjuvant therapy. Recently we showed that aberrant DNA methylation
analysis in cell-free DNA may be an attractive liquid biopsy approach for the detection of PDAC. The objective
of this proposal is to validate our liquid biopsy approach and demonstrate its utility. In Aim 1, we will validate
our Methyl 10 biomarkers for the detection of early-stage PDAC. In Aim, 2, we investigate whether our Methyl
10 biomarkers can detect minimal residual disease in pancreatic cancer patients. At the completion of these
studies, we will have validated and developed a novel DNA methylation biomarker set that is highly robust in
the detection of PDAC and highlight its clinical significance for monitoring treatment strategies in PDAC
patients.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10434410
- **Project number:** 1R21CA263132-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
- **Principal Investigator:** Bernard W FUTSCHER
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $215,284
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-04-07 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10434410

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10434410, DNA methylation, Liquid Biopsy, and Pancreatic Cancer (1R21CA263132-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10434410. Licensed CC0.

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