Cancer researchers from across the globe gathered in La Jolla this week to share progress in what is billed as the world’s largest effort to increase pancreatic cancer survival rates through early detection.
But the event was significant beyond scientific camaraderie. The Pancreatic Cancer Early Detection Consortium — often called PRECEDE — is now headquartered at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, a fact that is likely to help as the organization seeks to renew a key federal grant that is a critical source of funding for ongoing operations.
Last year, PRECEDE investigators met at a hotel on Roosevelt Island, close to the home base of its founding principal investigator, Dr. Diane Simeone, then working under multiple weighty titles at New York University.
But Simeone came west this spring, starting her new job as director of Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego on April 1.
Naturally, her ongoing research efforts came with her, quickly making Moores the new headquarters for PRECEDE, a growing network of 51 pancreatic cancer centers working together to build protocols that can detect pancreatic cancer early, when it is significantly more treatable. While most participants are at major United States universities, a few are overseas in Australia, Budapest, Canada, England, Iceland, Israel, Italy and Spain.
With a five-year survival rate of just 10 percent, meaning that only one in 10 patients is still alive five years after diagnosis, pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest diseases known to mankind.
PRECEDE’s mission is to increase the five-year survival rate to 50 percent by systematically collecting blood samples from high-risk individuals every six to 12 months. Blood can be monitored for early signs of cancer, increasing the chances of early detection when the odds of survival are said to exceed 84 percent.
The goal is to enroll 10,000 patients worldwide, and the effort already has 7,000 people participating.
The criteria to participate in the trial are somewhat complicated but, in general, seek adults age 18 to 90 with a significant family history of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Moores was a participant in the network, enrolling San Diegans before Simeone arrived.
More information on enrollment is available at precedestudy.org.
But collecting blood from those who are at elevated risk also presents opportunities to better understand the disease.
Today’s technology, including resources that are concentrated along the coast in Torrey Pines, promises new breakthroughs on the horizon.
“The depth of science here is unparalleled in the United States,” Simeone said. “We are not just collecting data, we have genomics, AI, just so much cutting-edge research capability.”
Meanwhile, Moores will soon come under rigorous review by the National Cancer Institute, which requires the nation’s 57 designated comprehensive cancer centers to renew their government-issued support grants every five years.
Simeone, as Moores’ director, will serve as the principal investigator for its support grant renewal application. Federal records indicate that the grant ends in April 2025.
Moores suffered a bit of bad publicity in 2023 when a widely read industry publication, quoting anonymous sources, said that its clinical trial office was in disarray, potentially endangering the renewal of its support grant.
One criticism, which Dr. John M. Carethers, vice chancellor for health services at UCSD, confirmed in reaction to the industry piece, was that too many of Moores’ trials were “industry” focused and not enough were initiated by local investigators.
