2025 Early Detection Grant - Professor Nils Halberg

Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms of cancer, often diagnosed too late for  effective treatment. One of the biggest challenges is that the disease develops silently  over many years, and current methods cannot reliably detect it early. At the same time, we know that people with obesity and type 2 diabetes are at higher risk of developing  pancreatic cancer. This suggests that metabolic changes in the body may leave lasting  effects that influence cancer development—and could also leave clues in the blood. 

In this project, we are using a specially engineered mouse model that mimics both  genetic mutations found in human PDAC, and the metabolic changes caused by obesity  and diabetes. This model allows us to study what happens in the pancreas during the very earliest stages of cancer – even before a tumour has fully formed. We collect blood  samples from these mice and use new advanced technology that captures even rare  and low-abundance proteins—ones that would be missed by conventional and  previously used methods. 

By analysing the proteins in blood during these early disease stages, we aim to discover  new “biomarkers”—measurable substances in the blood that could signal the presence  of early cancer, especially in people with obesity or diabetes. We will then test the most  promising biomarkers in other groups of mice and in human patients with pancreatic cancer at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.  

If successful, this research will lead to new blood-based tools to detect pancreatic  cancer earlier, when it is treatable. It may also help identify people at higher risk due to  their metabolic health, improving cancer screening programs. In the long term, our  approach could be applied to other cancers linked to obesity and diabetes, helping to  personalize and improve early detection for more people. 

This project represents a new way of thinking about cancer risk—not just focusing on  the tumour itself, but also on how the body’s metabolic environment shapes its  development. By combining cutting-edge biology, technology, and clinical  collaboration, we aim to deliver real-world impact in the fight against pancreatic cancer.