PANDoRA

Our main goal is to evaluate the possible associations between the inter-individual genetic variation and the risk of developing pancreatic cancer, its progression and the survival of the patients and their response to the treatment. More specifically we aim at studying:

• New genetic risk factors for PDAC, in addition to those identified to date

• Genetic factors that influence the outcome of treatment of pancreatic cancer patients

• Genetic factors that influence the survival of pancreatic cancer patients.

Secondary aims are to study:

• Genetic risk factors for exocrine pancreatic cancers other than PDAC, pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNET), and preneoplastic pancreatic lesions, such as pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN) and intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMN), as well as chronic pancreatitis (CP)

• Non-genetic biomarkers for pancreatic cancer risk and survival, such as telomere length and and mitochondrial copy number

• Integration of “omics” data, i.e. the possible associations between genetic polymorphisms and somatic mutations, gene expression or methylation level in the tumors.