Baylor Researchers Receive Barry Stephen Smith Memorial Pancreatic Cancer Research Award
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Baylor College of Medicine researchers have received the Barry Stephen Smith Memorial Pancreatic Cancer Research Award that includes funding for their project, “Dissecting cellular and molecular mediators of FOLFIRINOX sensitivity.”
In this study led by Shalini Makawita, M.D., M.Sc., and E. Ramsay Camp, M.D., researchers will perform 10X Genomics Visium spatial transcriptomics analysis under the guidance of Hyun-Sung Lee, M.D., Ph.D., on pancreatic cancer (PDAC) surgical specimens from both treatment naïve, as well as pathological responders and non-responders, to FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy to identify cellular and molecular mediators of FOLFIRINOX sensitivity.
Spatial transcriptomics is an exciting and groundbreaking new technology available at Baylor that brings together advancements in next-generation sequencing and imaging-based approaches to measure gene expression levels systematically throughout tissue space. It allows for the study of molecular and cellular biology within the spatial context of the tissue architecture. Through these means, we aim to deconstruct the different tumor compartments and identify differences in gene expression and localization patterns amongst responders and non-responders to FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy.
This project will not only shed light on PDAC cellular biology and mediators of FOLFIRINOX sensitivity, it will also enable strong interdepartmental collaborations within the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center and establish a strong foundation within the pancreas group for next-generation combination therapy protocols for PDAC patients.
