Our Clinical Trials Continually updated listing of our clinical trials for upper gastrointestinal cancers 
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Our upper gastrointestinal cancer research team focuses on cancers of the esophagus, stomach, and pancreas, as well as on neuroendocrine tumors and tumors of the small intestine. We have made several of the major advances in the treatment of these diseases, and many of our investigators have been leading members of several national groups seeking to improve the detection, treatment, and prevention of upper gastrointestinal cancers.
In addition to chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery, our team has helped develop new techniques, such as laser therapy and photodynamic therapy. We have investigated new methods for delivering chemotherapy, such as intraperitoneal approaches. We are also looking at novel treatment approaches such as immunotherapy, vaccines, and targeted therapies aimed at specific genetic mutations.
Among our recent research accomplishments:
- Our treatment approaches emphasize the evaluation of promising agents in advanced disease and their integration, when sufficiently active, into combined modality schemas, with correlative tissue studies when possible. As an example of the latter, examination of p53 status and mutational analysis in gastric cancer patients receiving cisplatin plus irinotecan revealed that p53WT patients had response rates of only 9 to 10 percent, whereas about 30 percent of patients with p53MUT responded.
- For patients with pancreatic cancer, we are evaluating flavopiridol in combination with radiation therapy in locally advanced, nonoperable pancreatic cancer. Another clinical trial is assessing the effectiveness of sunitinib in patients with gemcitabine-refractory progressive adenocarcinoma of the pancreas.
- For patients with gastroesophageal cancers, our clinical researchers are assessing novel drug combinations with or without radiation therapy. Examples include docetaxel, cisplatin, fluorouracil, and bevacizumab or cetuximab with cisplatin and irinotecan in patients with unresectable or metastatic disease. We are also evaluating the quality of life of long-term survivors of resectable gastric cancer.
- Our researchers learned how a particular type of enzyme in cells can be manipulated to combat pancreatic cancer in mice. In previous research, they had found that chemically inhibiting cysteine cathepsins halted the progression of pancreatic islet cell cancer in mice. In their new research, the team engineered pancreatic cancer-prone mice to also lack one of four cathepsin genes. Three of the four cathepsin-deficient transgenic mice exhibited reduced tumor growth and invasion. In addition, the researchers identified a molecular target, E-cadherin, which controls the invasive potential of each gene. Genes Dev. 2006;20:543-556. [PubMed Abstract]
- We have developed a Familial Pancreatic Cancer Registry that is focused both on patients with pancreatic cancer and on individuals with a strong family history of this disease. We are also establishing a similar gastric cancer registry of individuals at highest risk for gastric cancer.
