PanScan, the Pancreatic Cancer Cohort Consortium, and the Pancreatic Cancer Case-Control Consortium
The Pancreatic Cancer Cohort Consortium consists of more than a dozen prospective epidemiologic cohort studies within the NCI Cohort Consortium, whose leaders work together to investigate the etiology and natural history of pancreatic cancer. They formed the Pancreatic Cancer Cohort Consortium in 2006 by investigators for the initial purpose of launching a genome-wide association study (PanScan). The PanScan study has expanded to include a collaboration with investigators leading eight hospital-based case-control studies that belong to the Pancreatic Cancer Case-Control (PANC4) Consortium.
No effective screening test exists for pancreatic cancer, which is one of the leading causes of cancer mortality in the United States. It is often diagnosed at an advanced stage, contributing to a 5-year survival rate of less than 5 percent. NCI’s research priorities include the identification of genetic factors, environmental exposures, and gene-environment interactions that contribute to the development of this cancer, and identification and development of methods of surveillance and diagnosis for early detection of the disease. Both consortia seek to address these priorities.
PanScan investigators have conducted two genome-wide association studies (GWAS), PanScan I and PanScan II, that have led to the discovery of four novel regions in the genome associated with risk for pancreatic cancer (Amundadottir et al., Nature Genetics 2009
; Petersen et al., Nature Genetics 2010). PanScan I and II were conducted with pancreatic cancer cases and controls from the consortium’s 12 prospective epidemiology cohort studies and one case-control study. In addition, many other epidemiologic and genetic studies have been planned or published.
The investigators have made genotype results and individual SNP analyses available to other researchers. Researchers may apply for access through the CGEMS Pancreatic Cancer Data Web page; please direct questions to ncicgems@mail.nih.gov. The efforts of the grant-supported cohorts are coordinated by Dr. Charles Fuchs, those of the grant-supported case-control studies by Dr. Gloria Peterson, and those of NCI-led intramural studies by Dr. Rachael Stolzenberg-Solomon.
Questions? Contact:
- Joanne Watters Elena, Ph.D., M.P.H., Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program (EGRP), Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS), NCI
- Geoffrey Tobias, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG), NCI
