Investigating Targetable Metabolic Pathways Sustaining Pancreatic Cancer

Summary

This clinical trial investigates the nutrients pancreatic cancers depend on in which to survive and the processes these tumors use (metabolism) to obtain these nutrients. Giving U-13C-glucose during surgery may allow doctors to trace the metabolic activity of pancreatic cancer in research experiments done in the laboratory. These experiments may help researchers understand how cancer cells manage their nutrients when compared to normal pancreatic cells.

Interventions

• Biopsy · PROCEDURE

  Undergo biopsy

• Therapeutic Conventional Surgery · PROCEDURE

  Undergo surgery

• Uniformly-labeled [13C]glucose · OTHER

  Given IV

Published eligibility criteria

Verbatim from the registry. Only the site can decide how these apply to a specific patient.

Inclusion Criteria:

* Male or female patients \>= 18 years of age
* Pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients, previously diagnosed by biopsy, who are candidates for intended curative resection either with or without neoadjuvant chemotherapy
* Willing to undergo mandatory intraoperative small excisional and core biopsies (4-6 passes) of tumor and normal tissue for research purposes at the time of proposed pancreatectomy
* 16 patients will be enrolled including 8 with no prior treatment and 8 treated with at least 3 months of neoadjuvant chemotherapy
* All patients must be able to understand the investigational nature of the study and give written informed consent prior to study entry

Exclusion Criteria:

* Patients receiving any anti-cancer therapy (chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and/or biologic therapy) for 8 patients; the other 8 patients will be treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy but no radiation, biologic or immunotherapy prior to surgery
* Is currently enrolled, or will enroll in, a different clinical study in which investigational therapeutic procedures are performed or investigational therapies are administered while participating in this study
* Concomitant active malignancy
* Is of child-bearing potential who has not had a recent negative pregnancy test done outside of this clinical trial (i.e., as part of standard preparation for diagnosis and treatment for her cancer)

Sites (2)

• Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center (Saint Barnabas Medical Center), Livingston, New Jersey · RECRUITING
• Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey · RECRUITING