This $351,131 federal Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.395 - Cancer Treatment Research) supports research by the University of Miami to mechanistically dissect the signaling interactions between myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) and cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) that contribute to chemotherapy and immunotherapy resistance in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). The goal is to uncover novel insights into the tumor-permissive and tolerogenic role of...
This Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) under the 21st Century Cures Act - Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot program (CFDA 93.353) provides $435,144 to a collaborative research partnership between Henry Ford Health and Michigan State University Health Sciences. The award supports a 5-year research project investigating the role of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in activating and sustaining the pro-tumor functions of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in pancreatic...
The National Institutes of Health's National Cancer Institute awarded a $283,136 Project Grant to the Regents of the University of Michigan under the Cancer Research Manpower federal grant program (CFDA 93.398). The award will support research investigating cellular communication in the tumor microenvironment of pancreatic cancer. The grantee will examine how hedgehog signaling alters the immune landscape and endothelial cell function through fibroblast interactions. They will also determine the...
This $128,199 Project Grant, awarded on August 14, 2025 by the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.398 Cancer Research Manpower), supports research to determine the role of the lipid kinase PIKFYVE in regulating metabolic homeostasis in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and explore the synergistic effects of inhibiting PIKFYVE and the KRAS-MAPK signaling pathway. The research aims to delineate the functional relationship between PIKFYVE and lipid homeostasis in PDAC, establish a rationale...
This Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.393 - Cancer Cause and Prevention Research) provides $103,948 to Wayne State University to investigate the role of the Ran guanine exchange factor, RCC1, in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) progression. The objectives are to study how RCC1 impacts PDAC metabolic activity and mRNA processing, as well as examine the effects of RCC1 overexpression on PDAC development and metastasis using animal models. The award period runs...
This $163,050 Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.398 - Cancer Research Manpower program) supports a research project to investigate the role of Tie2-expressing macrophages (TEMs) in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). The key objectives are to: Examine the immunosuppressive functions of circulating and tumor-infiltrating TEMs, particularly their effects on T cell populations in PDAC. Assess the regulatory role of TEMs in PDAC blood vessel function and tumor...
This Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.396 - Cancer Biology Research) provides funding to the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to conduct research aimed at understanding how mutations in the TP53 tumor suppressor gene drive pro-metastatic interactions between pancreatic cancer cells and the surrounding tumor microenvironment. The $453,304 award will fund a 5-year project focused on clarifying the signaling mechanisms by which mutant TP53 activates the...
The National Cancer Institute (NCI), under the Cancer Research Manpower (CFDA 93.398) federal grant program, awarded a $342,397 Project Grant to Wayne State University to investigate the relationship between MAIT cells and the microbiome in pancreatic cancer liver metastasis. The award period runs from September 30, 2024 to April 28, 2028. The Cancer Research Manpower program supports diverse cancer-related research, training, and career development initiatives across academic and medical...
This federal Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.396 - Cancer Biology Research) provides $654,197 to The General Hospital Corporation (doing business as Massachusetts General Hospital) to conduct research on pancreatic cancer patient-derived xenograft (PDX) tumor models. The research aims to: Define the molecular subtypes of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) that respond to standard-of-care chemotherapies like FOLFIRINOX and gemcitabine + Abraxane. Elucidate how...
This federal Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.396 - Cancer Biology Research) provides $642,755 to The Institute For Cancer Research (ICR) to conduct research on targeting the protein Anoctamin 6 (ANO6) to disrupt the process of trogocytosis between cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) tumor cells. The key objectives are to understand how ANO6 activity is regulated in the CAF-cancer cell interface, determine how blocking...
This $139,445 Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Research Manpower program (CFDA 93.398) will fund research by the Regents of the University of Michigan to characterize the role of mesothelial-derived cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in the pathogenesis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA). The central hypothesis is that mesothelial cells give rise to a distinct, immunomodulatory population of CAFs that influence the PDA tumor microenvironment. Through in vivo models and in vitro assays, the research will investigate the contribution of WT1+ mesothelial-derived CAFs to the fibroblast compartment in PDA, and evaluate their functional role at different stages of PDA development. The findings are expected to advance the understanding of how cell origin dictates fibroblast function in PDA, potentially paving the way for novel fibroblast-targeting therapeutics.