PURPLE
Project title
Pancreatic cancer: Understanding Routine Practice & Lifting End results
Investigators
Dr Belinda Lee (Principal Investigator)
Sites
27 cancer centres across Australia, New Zealand and Singapore
The PURPLE translational registry for pancreatic cancer patients has been driving world leading research since 2016. This multi-site, multi-disciplinary translational pancreatic cancer registry is the first of its kind and aims to increase data sharing and collaboration across cancer centres and research laboratories to relocate novel research findings from “bench-to-bedside”.
Although currently the 5th most common cause of cancer death in Australia, pancreatic cancer is predicted to become the 2nd leading cause of cancer deaths globally by 2030. PURPLE was developed to combat this alarming trend. Major issues being tackled include improving existing detection methods and developing more effective therapies.
PURPLE is powered by BioGrid Australia technology, which ensures data protection, site privacy and patient confidentiality.
To progress its establishment aims, PURPLE underpins a wide range of translational studies. The registry currently supports tissue and blood-based studies, registry-based clinical trials, and biomarker studies including the DYNAMIC-Pancreas clinical trial and the pancreatic cancer organoid program.
To view a short video on pancreas cancer care and the DYNAMIC-Pancreas clinical trial, click on the link below:
Pancreas cancer video on youtube
More information on the DYNAMIC-Pancreas clinical trial can be found on the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) website at ID ACTRN12618000335291 and the Australasian Gastro-Intestinal Trials Group (AGIG) website.
We hope that by coordinating and linking translational research projects we may be able to better map out the cancer genetics, molecular and cellular mechanisms that lead to treatment response or resistance in pancreatic cancer. The infrastructure provided by the BioGrid platform is integral for this process.
Pancreatic cancer organoids are derived from the patient’s own tumour stem cell, and can be used for drug screening, genomics and molecular biology studies. The results can be used to determine the most suitable and personalised treatment option for each individual patient. The organoid project currently involves 100 pancreatic cancer patients. Researchers hope to identify new signalling pathways and biomarkers to predict response and optimal drug combinations.
For more information about PURPLE go to the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ID ACTRN12617001474347.
Publication list
Dr Belinda Lee is a Medical Oncologist and Clinical Researcher at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, Victoria