Management and Data Coordination Unit for PCDC

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly lethal cancer, partially owing to lack of effective biomarkers and/or screening strategies. The 5-year survival of patients with localized PDAC is 39% compared to 3% in patients diagnosed with metastatic disease, which indicates that detecting PDAC at early stage positively impacts survival. A centrally curated/managed multi-institution biospecimen resource containing prospectively collected, well-annotated biospecimens representing clinically relevant, diverse PDAC screening populations is desperately needed. The overall goal of the Pancreatic Cancer Detection Consortium (PCDC) Management and Data Coordinating Center (MDCU) is to facilitate the PCDC’s role in developing and utilizing high quality, well annotated samples for PDAC biomarker discovery, triage, pre-validation, and validation. The PCDC consortium is composed of multiple U01 Research Units (RU) and the MDCU, with NCI cooperation and central biospecimen storage at the NCI Frederick Central Repository. We will leverage our expertise and knowledge gained during the previous grant cycle to reinforce existing and new PCDC initiatives through expanded coordination, and strengthening the infrastructure to support management of the PCDC Reference Sets and Signature Protocols. Our Specific Aims are 1) To provide outstanding and timely administrative coordination and logistical support for the Pancreatic Cancer Detection Consortium. 2) To strategically plan, coordinate and implement the development of a well-annotated, uniformly collected and managed central PCDC biorepository and database. 3) To provide the highest quality biostatistical leadership of PCDC collaborative experimental design, study conduct, and analysis, and to provide biostatistical consultation to PCDC RUs. The strengths of the MDCU are the breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding of PDAC provided by MDCU personnel who will innovatively apply time tested infrastructure tools and strategies to consortium management, and our vast experience in enhancing the scientific needs of PCDC collaborative research. Our multidisciplinary team is committed to continue its leadership and contribution to the PCDC organization to advance the early detection of pancreatic cancer.