PDAC Peripheral and Portal Vein Sampling

This is a research study in which bio-specimens (whole blood, plasma and serum from peripheral circulation and portal vein) will be collected from patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma for translational research. These samples will be used for (but not limited to) identification and characterisation of blood-borne biomarkers at the genomic and protein expression level. Examples of such biomarkers are circulating tumour cells (CTCs), CTC clusters and circulating DNA (which can be tumour derived, or from unaffected/normal cells). CTC-enriched blood samples may also be used to generate CTC-derived tumour explant (CDX) models in immunocompromised mice in order to produce suitable disease models in which to test novel therapies and identify new molecular targets. In addition, permission will be sought from study participants for the research team to access clinical information from medical notes to aid in determining the clinical relevance of biomarkers identified during the course of this study. Validated biomarkers are anticipated to be used in designing future biomarker-directed clinical trials in these disease groups.