Perioperative Fostamatinib + Chemotherapy for Resectable Pancreatic Cancer

Immunotherapies & Personalized Vaccines, Novel Approaches & New Therapeutic Platforms

Andrew Lowy, MD (UC San Diego)

Shweta Joshi, PhD (UC San Diego)

Ronald Evans, PhD (Salk)

Karen Messer, PhD (UC San Diego)

Hitendra Patel, MBBS (UC San Diego)

Pancreatic cancer is the 3rd leading cause of cancer death. While outcomes for patients with other aggressive cancers have been transformed by the development of immunotherapy, sadly this has not been the case for pancreatic cancer. A major barrier to the success of immunotherapy is the tumor microenvironment that surrounds pancreatic tumors and hinders the immune system’s ability to effectively identify and eliminate cancerous cells.

Drs. Joshi and Lowy recently discovered that the predominant type
of immune cell present in pancreatic cancers, the macrophage, can
be changed from a tumor promoting cell to a tumor eliminating cell by inhibiting the function of a protein known as Syk. This project will determine if combining Fostamatinib, an FDA approved drug that blocks Syk function, with chemotherapy prior to surgery improves patient outcomes. How Fostamatinib modulates the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment in pancreatic cancer will be determined.

This multidisciplinary team from UC San Diego and the Salk Institute consists of surgeons, medical oncologists and basic researchers who will work together to test this exciting hypothesis. Since Fostamatinib is FDA approved, successful results of this study would allow for a rapid path to changing the standard of care for PC patients.

“My career has been dedicated to the care and cure of patients with pancreatic cancer. Our project builds on our team’s discovery that blocking the function of Syk kinase can engender an antitumor immune response to pancreatic cancer and enhance the effects of chemotherapy. We are incredibly excited to test this idea in pancreatic cancer patients who will undergo surgery. Curebound’s support will make it possible for us to study the effectiveness of this approach in patients and to understand the science behind it. As the drug we will use is already FDA approved for other indications, if successful, our study could result in a rapid change to the standard of care for pancreatic cancer patients.” -- Andrew Lowy