Gene Linked to Inherited Pancreatic Cancer

		Two members of a family participating in genetic studies of susceptibility to cancer.

Researchers have mapped the location of a gene linked directly with inherited pancreatic cancer. The scientists expect to have the gene sequenced within the next year. The research team was from the University of Washington, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The findings were published in the April 2002 issue of The American Journal of Human Genetics. The article is titled, “A New Susceptibility Locus for Autosomal Dominant Pancreatic Cancer Maps to Chromosome 4q32-34.”

For seven years the investigators studied a family with a high incidence of early-onset pancreatic cancer. Of the 20 affected family members in the study, nine have succumbed to the disease.

Pancreatic cancer is often asymptomatic and most patients die within six months of diagnosis. The researchers developed a screening program using endoscopic ultrasound and endoscopic retrograde pancreatography, which allowed surveillance and early identification of cancer and precancerous changes in the family members in their study.

The study directors are Dr. Leonid Kruglyak, statistical geneticist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; Dr. Teresa Brentnall, associate professor of medicine, and Dr. Michael Kimmey, professor of medicine, both at the University of Washington; and Dr. David Whitcomb, chair of gastroenterology at the University of Pittsburgh.

Gene and Mary Ann Walters share the hope that pancreatic cancer research at the UW Medicine offers. This year, the couple contributed gifts establishing the Walters Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research Endowment Fund and the Walters Venture Research Fund. A third gift creats the Walters Clinical Research and Drug Therapies Fund.