PCDC Resources and Collaborative Opportunities

Consortium for the Study of Chronic Pancreatitis, Diabetes and Pancreatic Cancer (CPDPC)

The NCI’s 2014 Scientific Framework for Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDF, 822KB) report also included a recommendation on studying the importance of the connection between diabetes and pancreatic cancer. A workshop held in June 2013 that was co-sponsored by both the NCI and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) also highlighted the risk factors which link chronic pancreatitis, diabetes, and pancreatic cancer. These led to the development of the Consortium for the Study of Chronic Pancreatitis, Diabetes and Pancreatic Cancer (CPDPC), which the NCI and the NIDDK lead jointly. The CPDPC was formed to undertake a comprehensive clinical, epidemiological, and biological characterization of patients with chronic pancreatitis (including those with acute recurrent pancreatitis) to gain insight into the pathophysiology of chronic pancreatitis and its sequela: chronic pain, pancreatic insufficiency, pancreatogenic Diabetes Mellitus (T3cDM) and the diabetes/pancreatic cancer association. The consortium includes studies on the development of pancreatic cancer in newly diagnosed diabetic patients. These studies focus on pancreatic cancer and T3cDM and their pathogenic interrelationships by identifying and following a cohort of newly diagnosed diabetic patients. The Consortium has developed four large studies: PROCEED (Prospective Evaluation of Chronic Pancreatitis for Epidemiologic and Translational Studies) to study chronic pancreatitis; INSPPIRE (International Study Group of Pediatric Pancreatitis: In search for a cuRE) to study pediatric pancreatitis; DETECT (Evaluation of a mixed meal test for Diagnosis and characterization of Type 3c diabeTes mellitus secondary to pancreatic cancer and chronic pancreatitis) to distinguish Type 3c diabetes from Type 2 diabetes; and NoD (New-onset Diabetes) to study pancreatic cancer in patients with newly diagnosed diabetes. In addition, ancillary studies are planned which will utilize the resources obtained from the 4 major cohort studies. For more information on the CPDPC, please visit https://www.dmscro.org/cpdpc/index.html.

Alliance of Pancreatic Cancer Consortia for Biomarkers for Early Detection

In order to bring together investigators funded through NCI-supported programs on pancreatic cancer detection and stakeholders that are supporting biomarker research on pancreatic cancer to discuss and debate existing or newly developed biomarkers that are likely to change the clinical management of pancreatic cancer in the coming years, the NCI, the Kenner Family Research Fund and the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network organized a “Data Jamboree on Biomarkers” workshop in December 2016. The expected outcome of this meeting was to identify a set of biomarkers/imaging or combined modalities that could be further tested and validated through the PCDC and the Early Detection Research Network (EDRN).

Representatives from four NCI-supported consortia on pancreatic cancer detection, the PCDC, the EDRN, the CPDPC, and the Consortium for Molecular Characterization of Screen-Detected Lesions (MCL) were invited to participate in this workshop. Other invited participants included representatives from the Kenner Family Research Fund- and the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network-supported researchers and from industry. Statisticians from the NCI, Division of Cancer Prevention, Biometry Research Group, and the EDRN, also participated in this workshop.

A synopsis of this workshop has been published in Pancreas Young, et al., Vol 47 (2), p135-141, 2018.