A forum for state-of-the-art clinical and basic research in pancreatic cancer

On Friday 4th May, BCI hosted the seventh London Pancreas Workshop, co-organised by Prof Hemant Kocher and our Director Prof Nick Lemoine, which attracted delegates from across Europe and America, with over 140 attendees in total. The biennial event is recognised as a forum for state-of-the-art clinical and basic research in pancreatic cancer.

The areas of focus for this year’s workshop were diagnostics, clinical trials and preclinical work for targeting pancreatic cancer. We heard a variety of interesting talks in these areas, delivered by researchers renowned in their fields.

Prof Kocher said:

The seventh edition of the London Pancreas Workshop has been the most successful so far in attracting the largest number of delegates and abstracts. Researchers from the UK, the USA, France and Spain shared the latest frontiers in clinical and laboratory research focusing solely on pancreatic cancer.

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Sessions

The first session focussed on early diagnostics for pancreatic cancer. We first heard from BCI’s Prof Claude Chelala about the Pancreatic Expression Database (PED) and how it can be utilised for patient benefit. The PED is a computational platform that allows for the sharing, integration, exploration and analysis of pancreatic cancer data generated from samples from the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund (PCRF) Tissue Bank.

As the day progressed, we heard about the importance of pancreatic cancer clinical trials, such as PRICKLE- a trial investigating the effects of two chemotherapy drugs, gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel, on locally advanced pancreatic cancer that has spread to the surrounding tissues- and how physical activity can improve the quality of life of patients with pancreatic cancer.

We also learnt about preclinical work that has identified new ways to target and treat pancreatic cancer, including how epigenetic studies in preclinical models give rise to therapeutic opportunities and how stellate cells can be targeted for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

Maggie Blanks, the founder and CEO of Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund, said:

The London Pancreas Workshop always provides a stimulating opportunity to hear about some of the latest research in pancreatic cancer. This year’s was no exception and indeed painted an inspiring picture of new insights, innovation and progress. I came away with a strong sense of the momentum building in tackling this awful disease.

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The Paget Lecture

To close the day, Prof Steven Leach, Director of the Dartmouth Norris Cotton Cancer Center, delivered this year’s Paget Lecture. Prof Leach spoke about his team’s research on T-cell immunity in long-term survivors of pancreatic cancer, and the identification of antigens that influence long-term survival. Such findings could inform the use of immunotherapies for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

Prof Nick Lemoine said:

This year’s London Pancreas Workshop was an outstanding success, with inspiring talks from world-leaders in their field and a terrific finale lecture by Steven Leach. The audience participation both at the lectures and around the posters really made the day buzz with interest, enthusiasm and optimism. I can’t wait for the next one!

Thank you to all of the sponsors, organisers, speakers and delegates who helped make #LPW2018 a great success.

You can view more photos from the event in our Facebook album