2022 Early Detection Innovation Grant - A/Prof Jason Lee

Project Summary

While early detection screening methods have been developed and drastically improved survival for other cancers, no such strategies exist for pancreatic cancer. Detection is performed by imaging and only patients considered at high risk are tested, but for the majority of the asymptomatic population no methods are currently available to identify the disease at an early, treatable, stage. This clearly underlies the need for the discovery of novel biomarkers for early detection in pancreatic cancer. This project aims to develop a blood-based biomarker strategy for pancreatic cancer by detecting a novel class of molecules, circular RNAs. Circular RNAs are RNA molecules closed in a loop that have been demonstrated to be deregulated in cancer. Importantly, these molecules are highly specific for the tissue of origin and are detectable in blood. By identifying circular RNAs specifically present in blood of pancreatic cancer patients, the project aims to develop a novel test to detect pancreatic cancer early.