# Pancreatic Cancer Detection Consortium

> **NIH NIH U01** · UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER · 2020 · $1,775,773

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
We propose to build and utilize a unique repository of biospecimens that are focused on early
pancreatic lesions by assembling a unique and robust collection of early lesions and blood samples
from patients at risk and those with lesions representing early stages of pancreatic cancer, matched
sets of tumors and metastasis and control tissues from the same patients, and in many cases
longitudinally obtained blood samples from the same patients. We will include longitudinally obtained
samples from patients at risk for developing pancreatic cancer that go on to develop pancreatic cancer,
including patients with cystic lesions, chronic pancreatitis, and adult onset diabetes. This unique
resource will be used to identify and characterize biomarkers that develop during the progression from
premalignant lesions to primary tumors, and to evaluate blood samples from these patients for the
presence of biomarkers at both early and late stages of disease progression. Both the biospecimens
and candidate biomarkers will be available for collaborative studies within the Pancreatic Cancer
Detection Consortium.
Specific 1. We will establish a comprehensive collection of tissues (fixed, frozen and living as
organoids) representing the spectrum of premalignant to malignant and metastatic lesions that occur
within individual patients obtained at autopsy and at surgery, and develop a collection of longitudinally
obtained blood and tissue specimens from patients at risk for pancreatic cancer and that develop
pancreatic cancer.
Specific Aim 2. We will evaluate 15 novel glycoprotein biomarkers of pancreatic cancer progression in
human tissue samples containing cell types that represent the progression of pancreatic cancer from
early premalignant lesions to primary and metastatic cancer.
Specific Aim 3. We will evaluate the expression of 15 novel glycoprotein biomarkers of pancreatic
cancer progression in longitudinal samples serum and plasma of patients that develop pancreatic
cancer, and compare these to longitudinal samples of appropriate patients with benign diseases.
Specific Aim 4. Discover cell surface antigens specific to the malignant state by applying phage-
display approaches to human pancreatic organoids.
Specific Aim 5. To evaluate and discover exosome-based biomarkers of pancreatic cancer by using
an unbiased proteomic analysis of exosomal cargo derived from patients with early stage pancreatic
lesions (PanIN3 eand early stage tumors) to develop a panel of markers that can accurately predict the
progression of these lesions towards pancreatic cancer.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9926080
- **Project number:** 5U01CA210240-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Michael A. Hollingsworth
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $1,775,773
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-05-01 → 2022-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9926080

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9926080, Pancreatic Cancer Detection Consortium (5U01CA210240-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9926080. Licensed CC0.

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