Cancer researchers from around the world gathered in La Jolla this week to share progress in what is billed as the world’s largest effort to increase pancreatic cancer survival rates through early detection.

But the event went beyond scientific camaraderie. The Pancreatic Cancer Early Detection Consortium – often called PRECEDE – is now headquartered at UC San Diego’s Moores Cancer Center, a fact that is likely to help as the organization seeks to renew a key federal grant that is an essential source of financing for ongoing operations.

Last year, investigators PRECEDE encounter at a hotel on Roosevelt Island, near the home base of its founding principal investigator, Dr. Diane Simeone, who was then working in several prominent capacities at New York University.

But Simeone came west this spring to begin her new job as director of the Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego on April 1.

Naturally, her continued research efforts accompanied her, quickly making Moores the new headquarters of PRECEDE, a growing network of 51 Pancreatic Cancer Centers work together to develop protocols to detect pancreatic cancer early, when it is much more treatable. While most of the participants come from major American universities, a few are abroad, in Australia, Budapest, Canada, England, Iceland, Israel, Italy and Spain.

With a five-year survival rate of just 10 percent, meaning only one in ten patients are still alive five years after diagnosis, pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest diseases known to man. humanity.

PRECEDE’s mission is to increase the five-year survival rate to 50 percent by systematically collecting blood samples from high-risk individuals every six to 12 months. Blood can be monitored for early signs of cancer, increasing the chances of early detection when the chance of survival exceeds 84 percent.

The goal is to enroll 10,000 patients worldwide and 7,000 people are already participating.

THE criteria to participate in the trial are somewhat complicated but, in general, are looking for adults ages 18 to 90 with a strong family history of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Moores was part of the network and booked the San Diegans before Simeone arrived.

More information on registration is available at precedestudy.org.

But collecting blood from people at high risk also presents opportunities to better understand the disease.

Current technology, including resources concentrated along the coast at Torrey Pines, promises new advances on the horizon.

“The depth of science here is unparalleled in the United States,” Simeone said. “We don’t just collect data, we have genomics, AI and many cutting-edge research capabilities. »

Meanwhile, Moores will soon face rigorous scrutiny from the National Cancer Institute, which requires the nation’s 57 designated cancer centers to renew their government-issued support grants every five years .

Simeone, as Moores’ director, will serve as principal investigator for his grant renewal application. Federal records show the grant ends in April 2025.

Moores suffered bad publicity in 2023 when a widely read industry publication, citing anonymous sources, said that its clinical trials office was in disarray, potentially putting the renewal of its supporting grant at risk.

A criticism, which Dr. John M. Carethers, vice chancellor for health services at UCSD, confirmed in reaction When it came to industry, too many of Moores’ trials were focused on “industry” and not enough were initiated by local investigators.