IU is working to find new ways to detect pancreatic cancer, develop new therapies, and launch clinical trials.
Theresa Zimmers and team group photo in the lab

Pancreatic Cancer Research

Just 10 percent of pancreatic patients live five years after diagnosis. At IU, we are accelerating research that saves lives.

Pancreatic cancer is cunning. It grows and spreads slowly. When it’s found, fate is often cruel. 

With your help, IU can find new ways to detect pancreatic cancer. We can develop new therapies and launch clinical trials to test them. Our researchers are studying how pancreatic cancer grows and resists drugs. They are deploying precision genomics to help oncologists tailor therapies—and then mining the data for insights to help create diagnostic tests, find new drug targets, and see if a treatment works. They also are studying harsh conditions inside the tumor to devise ways to crack the cancer cells, helping existing drugs to do their job.

Gifts give life to bold projects in their earliest stages—when it’s needed most.

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Giving a piece of yourself for research

Patients can play a pivotal role in changing the outlook for patients who come after them by donating samples of their tumor, fat, and muscle to our researchers.
Read this story Giving a piece of yourself for research
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Funding a legacy of love

A daughter creates a fund to honor her mom in order to spare families from the suffering and loss caused by pancreatic cancer.
Read this story Funding a legacy of love

Pancreatic Cancer Research

The Pancreatic Cancer Challenges and Solutions Working Group strives to understand how pancreatic cancer is intertwined with cachexia, a condition where muscle and fat waste away. That knowledge can help combat cachexia, which can be just as fatal as cancer itself.

In this video, Teresa A. Zimmers, PhD, H.H. Gregg Professor of Cancer Research, shares the goals and importance of cachexia research conducted at Indiana University.

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Simon Says Expert Series

To better connect IU’s nearly 300 cancer experts with our community, we’ve launched the “Simon Says Expert Series,” a monthly virtual event where you’ll have the opportunity to hear from cancer center experts about various topics and ask your questions. You’ll hear about the latest advances in cancer prevention, detection, treatment, and life after cancer. You can also suggest topics you’d like to learn about in the future. 

We hope you sign up, take part, and learn more from the experts at the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center.  You can explore previous Simon Says topics by visiting our session archive.

Simon Says Expert Series