Several different cancer types are featured in November for cancer awareness month. One of them is lung cancer, and you can learn more about a newly-funded ICRF research project on lung cancer in the interview (below) with Professor Joel Yisraeli. Other cancers highlighted in November are carcinoid and pancreatic cancers, and one recently funded ICRF researcher is doing work that could possibly lead to insights into both.

Carcinoid cancer is a rare type of tumor that has been called “cancer in slow motion” because symptoms are often not presented until the disease is advanced. Doctors don’t know what causes the mutations that can lead to carcinoid tumors, but they do know that carcinoid tumors develop in neuroendocrine cells. Neuroendocrine cells are found in various organs throughout the body. They perform some nerve cell functions and some hormone-producing endocrine cell functions. In adults, carcinoid tumors are most often found in the digestive tract, which includes the pancreas.

While carcinoid tumors are not hereditary, von Hippel Lindau (VHL) syndrome is an inherited disorder, characterized by the abnormal growth of both benign and cancerous tumors and cysts in many parts of the body. VHL syndrome is caused by mutations in the VHL gene, which normally functions to prevent cells from growing and dividing too rapidly or in an uncontrolled way. One of the tumors that VHL syndrome may cause is pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, a cancer that forms within the hormone-producing cells of the pancreas.

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ICRF Scientists Focused on
Carcinoid, Lung and Pancreatic Cancer Research

ICRF is currently supporting several projects in the areas of carcinoid, lung and pancreatic cancer research. Learn about a few of the ongoing and newly-funded projects for 2021-2022 below:

Learn about other ICRF-funded scientists working on carcinoid, lung and pancreatic cancer research.

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ICRF Presents: Brilliant Minds Webinar Series

“Novel Treatments and Diagnostics for Pancreatic Cancer”

In case you missed it, watch the recording of our 2020 “ICRF Presents: Brilliant Minds” webinar which takes a look at the urgent need for better therapeutics and early detection for pancreatic cancer ahead of World Pancreatic Cancer Day (November 19). Survivorship for most cancers has significantly improved over time, but the five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is still in the single digits.

In this webinar, Kenneth Goodman (ICRF Trustee and Chairman Emeritus) shares the story of his late wife’s hard-fought battle with this deadly disease, which led him to endow an ICRF Research Career Development Award grant for pancreatic cancer in her name. Professor Oren Parnas, a recipient of this award at Hebrew University who is investigating new ways to engineer immune cells to fight pancreatic cancer, will describe how his research provides hope on both fronts. Moderated by Dr. Mark Israel (ICRF National Executive Director) and Dr. Nancy Maizels (Chair, ICRF International Scientific Council and Scientific Review Panel).