Preventing Pancreatic Cancer Recurrence with a Vaccine After Surgery
Official title: Developing MRI-Guided Preventive Dendritic Cell Vaccination Strategy to Avoid Post-surgical Pancreatic Cancer Recurrence and Metastasis
Funded at University of California-Irvine · NIH-11089444 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This work explores a new vaccine to help stop pancreatic cancer from coming back after surgery, aiming to improve long-term survival for patients.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California-Irvine NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Irvine, United States) |
| Project start | August 1, 2016 |
| Project end | May 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $392,500 |
| NIH project number | 5R01CA209886-09 |
| Project ID | NIH-11089444 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates would be patients who have recently undergone surgery for pancreatic cancer and are at high risk for recurrence.
✕Less likely to help
Patients with advanced pancreatic cancer that cannot be surgically removed, or those who have not had surgery, may not directly benefit from this specific preventive approach.
What this research studies
Pancreatic cancer often returns even after surgery, which is why this project is looking for better ways to prevent recurrence. Researchers are testing a special vaccine made from dendritic cells, which are immune cells that can teach your body to fight cancer. This vaccine will be given after surgery, sometimes combined with standard chemotherapy, to see if it can keep the cancer from coming back. They will also use advanced MRI imaging to track how the vaccine travels in the body, hoping to predict who will respond best to the treatment.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could significantly reduce the chance of pancreatic cancer returning after surgery and improve survival rates for patients.
How similar studies have gone: While standard treatments offer modest improvements, this specific combination of dendritic cell vaccination and MRI tracking for preventing pancreatic cancer recurrence is a novel approach.
Where this research is happening
-
University of California-Irvine
Irvine, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Zhang, Zhuoli — University of California-Irvine
- Study coordinator: Zhang, Zhuoli
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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.