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Imprint
Production of pigs with a genetic predisposition for pancreatic cancer
Project
Project code: 147416069
Contract period: 01.01.2009
- 31.12.2010
Purpose of research: Basic research
Human pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDA) is a very serious disease. Five-year survival isbelow 1% and has not improved in recent decades. This is due to the aggressive nature of thecancer, the lack of early diagnosis and insufficient treatment options. Oncogenic activationmutations in Kras, found in >90% of human PDA, are believed to initiate formation ofpancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN), a precursor of PDA. PanIN can be induced inmice by a KrasG12D mutation and progression to cancer accelerated by mutant TP53. Whilethe mouse model is useful for basic research, a large animal model is urgently required toenable development of early, minimallyinvasive diagnostic and treatment techniques that canbe rapidly transferred to the clinic. The pig is very suitable for this purpose, it has manyphysiological similarities to humans and is already widely used in pre-clinical studies.However, no genetically defined porcine models of any human cancers are so far available.We propose to derive pigs with a latent KrasG12D mutation, which can be activated specificallyin pancreas to produce PanIN. Animals that mimic precursor and early stage human PDA willbe a valuable resource for researchers and clinicians developing diagnosis and treatmentmethods. The work proposed forms part of a program to model several human cancers in pigsby activating combinations of oncogenic mutants in different tissues.
Section overview
Subjects
- Animal breeding
- Animal health
