Clinical Trials

The purpose of this study is to learn more about the function of CCK receptor in human ACC cells and test the effect of high concentration CCK on ACC cells.  

The goal of this study is to determine if the biomarkers found to be upregulated in tissue samples are specific to PDAC and can be detected in saliva. Saliva will be collected form PDAC and control subjects for comparison. Additionally, to determine if the biomarkers are specific to PDAC or other KRAS driven cancers, saliva will be collected from patients with breast and lung cancer. The saliva collected from these subjects will be studied for the presence of specific protein biomarkers and used in experiments such as western blots and ELISAs.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most aggressive cancers with an extremely low overall 5-year survival rate. In previous experiments, human formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) PDAC tissue samples were obtained for laser microdissection of precancerous pancreatic lesions. RNA was isolated from the tissue and sequenced. The RNA-seq data suggested that there were many potential biomarkers for PDAC that could positively impact the clinical setting and early-detection of the disease if validated in patient samples.

Diabetes mellitus is a common condition which is defined by persistently high blood sugar levels. This is a frequent problem that is most commonly due to type 2 diabetes. However, it is now recognized that a small portion of the population with diabetes have an underlying problem with their pancreas, such as chronic pancreatitis or pancreatic cancer, as the cause of their diabetes. Currently, there is no test to identify the small number of patients who have diabetes caused by a primary problem with their pancreas.

The goal of this study is to develop a test to distinguish these various causes of diabetes. To accomplish this goal, we will enroll a range of patients. Most of the patients enrolled for these groups will have developed diabetes within the last 3 years, but we will also enroll a small number of patients with long-term diabetes and normal blood sugars for comparison.

The specific aims of this study are as follows:

Aim # 1:  To determine the prevalence of pancreas solid tumor intratumoral microbiota, their composition and diversity in specimens prospectively acquired via endoscopic ultrasound (EUS).

Aim # 2:  To investigate both the oral and duodenal microbiome of such patients to evaluate for similarities and differences.

The goal of this protocol is to collect biospecimens in order to prospectively evaluate diagnostic and prognostic performance of MDMs for detection of advanced neoplasia in pancreatic cysts. 

The purpose of this study is to assess the ability to successfully create numerous validated patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models from patient tumor specimens obtained at surgery/biopsy via the new Pathology/TRAG cryopreservation protocol, and to generate a large catalog and repertoire of previously unavailable histologically validated PDX.

The overall purpose of this study is to understand the factors that increase susceptibility and expression of pancreatic cancer and melanoma in high risk families.  Individuals who are affected with pancreas cancer and melanoma, as well as those without either cancer who have been identified as 1st or 2nd degree relatives of family members with pancreas cancer and melanoma, will be asked to participate. The participant will be asked to complete a survey about their health and family history of cancer and to give a blood sample for specific gene testing and storage for future research studies.

We wish to examine pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell lines to determine what genes are being expressed in the cells that might cause muscle wasting in patients. We will also perform chemical analyses of plasma obtained from these patients to identify substances that might be causing muscle wasting. Finally, we will examine proteins that are secreted by such cells to identify mediator is of cachexia or muscle wasting.

The primary objectives for this study are: 

• The percentage of subjects who can enroll on an A2 CAR T-cell therapy study within approximately 6 months of documentation of HLA-A LOH status

• The percentage of subjects who can enroll on an A2 CAR T-cell therapy study within approximately 12 months of documentation of HLA-A LOH status

• The percentage of subjects who can enroll on an A2 CAR T-cell therapy study within approximately 18 months of documentation of HLA-A LOH status

• The percentage of subjects who can enroll on an A2 CAR T-cell therapy study within approximately 24 months of HLA-A LOH status

• Percentage of screened subjects experiencing loss of heterozygosity of HLA-A*02.

This is a peripheral blood Collection Protocol to study the T-cell immune responses of patients with malignancies displaying one of three different patterns of antigen expression: (1) Cohort 1 focuses on cancers displaying a high (80-90%) frequency of MUC1 expression and variably high (unreported to 50%) HER2/neu (“HER2”) expression; (2) Cohort 2 focuses on primary or secondary myelofibrosis (MF) displaying mutated calreticulin (muCALR); (3) Cohort 3 focuses on glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) which often displays the cytomegalovirus tegument protein CMVpp65. Cohort 1 includes blood collections for in vitro studies which are a component of NIH-funded Project 3 within the Mayo Clinic Pancreatic SPORE, “Optimal Immunotargeting of MUC1 for Advanced Pancreatic Cancer” (Principal Investigator Dr. Gendler). Eligibility Criteria, keep current Eligibility Criteria, but precede by:: "Three cohorts of patients will be collected.:Cohort 1 includes (1) advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer, (2-4) advanced, unresectable breast cancer (up to 6 donors per phenotype: triple negative [HER2, estrogen and progesterone receptor (ER and PR) all negative], HER2 positive whatever the ER/PR status,, and HER2 negative/ER positive), (5) advanced, unresectable colorectal cancer, (6) advanced, unresectable ovarian cancer, (7) advanced, unresectable clear cell kidney cancer, (8) advanced, unresectable bladder cancer, (9) advanced, unresectable lung adenocarcinoma, (10) advanced, unresectable multiple myeloma. Also eligible are (11) up to 6 donors with triple negative breast cancer and (12) up to 6 donors with colorectal cancer who have no clinical evidence of residual (macroscopic) disease following an attempt to perform definitive treatment (including surgery, radiation and/or adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy). Cohort 2 includes (1) muCALR+ primary MF, and (2) muCALR+ secondary MF. Cohort 3 includes (1) CMVpp65 absent and (2) CMVpp65 present GBM.. Patients in all subcohorts except 1.11 and 1.12 currently have unresectable advanced or recurrent cancers, and may undergo the collection: (1) prior to initiation of systemic therapy; (2) if patient is already engaged in an ongoing cyclical systemic therapy, collection should be within three days prior to the end of the current therapy cycle, if necessary delayed until all clinical parameters are acceptable to proceed with the next planned cycle of therapy; (3) if patient is completing non-cyclical therapy, collection should be at least 2.5-3.0 weeks after completion of the therapy, or delayed until all clinical parameters are acceptable to proceed with any planned follow-up therapy. Patients in cohorts 1.11 and 1.12 (currently lacking detectable cancer) will undergo the collection at least 4 weeks after conclusion of therapy. In addition to belonging to one of these 16 subcohorts, patients will be required to have bloodwork demonstrating a blood hemoglobin ≥ 10 g/dL, a neutrophil count ≥ 1,500 /microliter, and platelets ≥ 100,000 /microliter, performed within 7 days prior to the collection.