Lipogenesis-Driven Resistance in pancreatic cancer and how to overcome it
Official title: Investigating lipogenesis mediated resistance to cytotoxic therapy in PDAC
Funded at University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh · NIH-11363958 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A small grant is testing whether turning up fat production in pancreatic cancer helps tumors survive chemotherapy and radiation, and whether blocking this fat production could make treatments work better.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R21 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Pittsburgh, United States) |
| Project start | May 25, 2026 |
| Project end | April 30, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $408,829 |
| NIH project number | 1R21CA302996-01A1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11363958 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma or similar disease contexts where lipogenesis pathways are active and treatment resistance is a concern.
✕Less likely to help
Patients whose tumors do not rely on lipid production for survival may see little to no benefit.
What this research studies
Pancreatic cancer often resists standard chemotherapy and radiation. The project will study how new fat production in tumor cells affects their survival and how immune cells in the tumor environment respond. Researchers will use lab-grown cells and animal models, along with techniques like mass spectrometry and RNA sequencing, to see if inhibiting lipogenesis makes cancer cells more sensitive to treatment and changes immune cell behavior. If successful, this could lead to new combination therapies that include lipogenesis inhibitors with current treatments.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, patients with pancreatic cancer could benefit from more effective treatment strategies that overcome resistance.
How similar studies have gone: Prior work suggests lipid metabolism can influence therapy resistance, but this project explores a novel combination with existing cytotoxic therapies.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Mueller, Adam Christopher — University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh
- Study coordinator: Mueller, Adam Christopher
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Targeting epigenomic regulators to assault pancreatic cancer replication stress
This research tests a new way to treat pancreatic cancer by blocking key epigenetic regulators during DNA replication to make cancer cells less able to cope with replication stress.
-
Neoantigen vaccines in pancreatic cancer: overcoming resistance to improve immune responses
This grant supports testing advanced neoantigen vaccines in pancreatic cancer to boost patients' immune responses and potentially improve outcomes.
-
CD11b-activating drug to make pancreatic cancer respond to immunotherapy
A study to see if a CD11b-activating drug (GB1275) can help pancreatic cancer patients respond better to immunotherapy when combined with standard chemotherapy and PD-1 blockers.
-
Targeting autophagy to treat KRAS-mutant pancreatic cancer
This grant explores using approved drugs to block autophagy in KRAS-mutant pancreatic cancer to improve treatment outcomes.
-
Reprogramming PDAC stroma by targeting blood clotting in the tumor environment
A cancer research grant aimed at turning the tough, fibrous pancreatic cancer environment into one that helps treatments work better and supports the body’s immune response.
-
Understanding paracrine signals in pancreatic cancer to improve drug delivery
A patient-focused look at how the tumor’s signaling networks affect treatment delivery in pancreatic cancer and how targeting these networks could help therapies reach tumors more effectively.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.