Biomarkers of pancreatic cancer

Our aim is to build a multidisciplinary consortium focused on the discovery and validation of predictive biomarkers in pancreatic cancer. The project will investigate how metabolic processes influence tumour progression, treatment response and patient outcomes, with the goal of improving patient stratification and supporting more personalised therapeutic strategies.

Potential research directions may include cancer cachexia, focusing on tumour–host communication, systemic metabolic alterations and biomarkers predicting the onset and progression of cachexia. A second direction is the metabolic–epigenetic crosstalk in pancreatic cancer, including the mechanisms through which altered metabolism influences tumour plasticity, treatment resistance and disease progression. Particular emphasis may be placed on acetylome studies, including the characterisation of protein acetylation and deacetylation patterns, their relationship to metabolic changes, and their potential as predictive biomarkers or therapeutic targets.

The Institute of Physiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IPHYS CAS) can contribute expertise in normal and pathological physiology, with a particular focus on metabolism, mitochondrial function, nutrition–immune interactions and cancer-related metabolic processes. Available capabilities include proteomics, metabolomics, phenotyping of energy metabolism, animal experimentation, microscopy, radiometry and biological control analyses, supported by interdisciplinary expertise spanning cellular, molecular and whole-body physiology. These capabilities could support integrated metabolic, proteomic and acetylome profiling in collaboration with clinical partners.

We particularly seek partners with complementary expertise in acetylome and post-translational modification studies, patient-derived organoid systems, genetically engineered mouse models of pancreatic cancer, functional validation, tumour–host interactions, cancer cachexia, metabolic and epigenetic regulation, bioinformatics and translational research. We welcome partners interested in shaping the scientific focus and building a consortium around predictive biomarkers and clinically relevant mechanisms in pancreatic cancer.