The Lustgarten Foundation-Swim Across America-AACR Pancreatic Cancer Early Detection Research Grant represents a joint effort to support innovative research to advance efforts towards the early detection and interception of pancreatic cancer

2023 Grantee

Research

Due to the lack of adequate diagnostic modalities (e.g., serum CA19-9 and imaging tools), pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is often diagnosed at a late stage. Circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) contains epigenetic information, including 5-methylcytosine (5mC) and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC). They are potentially powerful biomarkers of cancer development because they are chemically stable and abundant in the genome. They display aberrant epigenetic alterations that occur earlier in cancer development and in cancer-specific ways. Dr. Goel is set to perform LABS-seq and nano-hmC-Seal to probe 5mC and 5hmC epigenetic alterations in cfDNA, respectively, among patients with early-stage (stage I/II) PDAC and non-disease controls. Using advanced computational analyses of genome-wide methylation sequencing data, he seeks to identify specific diagnostic 5mC/5hmC biomarkers from circulating cfDNA for the early detection of PDAC.

Biography

Dr. Goel received his PhD in biophysics from Punjab University, completed his postgraduate work at the University of California San Diego, and went on to a 16-year career at Baylor Scott & White Research Institute in Texas. He joined City of Hope in June 2019 as founding chair of the Department of Molecular Diagnostics and Experimental Therapeutics and founding director of Biotech Innovations at Beckman Research Institute.

Acknowledgement of Support

This grant will allow our research group to move forward with an early detection strategy that has potential for major impact on patients. My hope is that a PCR test based on this research will someday become a part of regular physicals, detecting PDAC years earlier and saving lives.