Who’s Driving?  Gastrin/CCK2R, Pancreatic Cancer, and the Fibrotic Tumor Microenvironment

  • Friday, April 8, 2022
  • 1:30 PM–2:20 PM
  • Science Building 010

Dr. John Harms of Messiah University will join us for our last Biology department seminar of the semester.

Pancreatic cancer has an incredibly dismal survival rate and current therapeutics do little to improve prognosis.  Gastrointestinal hormones, gastrin and cholecystokinin, are aberrantly expressed by pancreatic cancer cells, stimulate increased tumor growth in an autocrine fashion, and contribute to the collagen-rich fibrotic tumor microenvironment.  We’ve confirmed a gastrin receptor (CCK2R) antagonist can significantly decrease in vivo fibrosis and may improve chemotherapeutic delivery.  Ongoing efforts seek to elucidate the gastrin-mediated mechanisms and cellular targets contributing to this unique fibrosis.

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