Gastrointestinal Cancer Research Program

Gastrointestinal (GI) cancers remain some of the most difficult to treat, with five-year survival rates below 50 percent for most GI cancer types.

The Gastrointestinal Cancer Research Program aims to better understand what drives these cancers with the goal of identifying and applying better treatment strategies. Our research efforts span the entire spectrum—from in-depth basic research to investigator-initiated clinical trials—across all GI cancer types, including colorectal, gastroesophageal, and pancreatic cancers.

RESEARCH THEMES

The Gastrointestinal Cancer Program supports basic, translational and clinical research across all GI cancer types:

Causes of GI cancers

Determining the etiology and pathogenesis of gastrointestinal cancers

Diagnosis & Prediction

Developing biomarkers and imaging techniques to improve detection and predict efficacy of current and novel therapeutics for gastrointestinal cancers

Models of GI Cancer

Developing and studying novel laboratory models of cancer to improve understanding of human cancers

Translation Into Treatment

Translating laboratory discoveries into clinical investigations

Program Leader

Cathy Eng, M.D.

All Program Members

Featured Publications

Survival Outcomes Used to Generate Version 9 American Joint Committee on Cancer Staging System for Anal Cancer.

Janczewski, L.M., Faski, J., Nelson, H., Gollub, M.J., Eng, C. (GI), Brierley, J.D., Palefsky, J.M., Goldberg, R.M., Washington, M.K. (GI), Asare, E.A. & Goodman, K.A.

CA Cancer J Clin 2023; PMID:37114458.

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Tucatinib Plus Trastuzumab for Chemotherapy-refractory, HER2-positive, RAS Wild-type Unresectable or Metastatic Colorectal Cancer (MOUNTAINEER): a Multicentre, Open-label, Phase 2 Study.

Strickler, J.H., Cercek, A., Siena, S., André, T., Ng, K., Van Cutsem, E., Wu, C., Paulson, A.S., Hubbard, J.M., Coveler, A.L., Fountzilas, C., Kardosh, A., Kasi, P.M., Lenz, H.J., Ciombor, K.K. (GI, TR), Elez, E., Bajor, D.L., Cremolini, C., Sanchez, F., Stecher, M., Feng, W. & Bekaii-Saab, T.S.

Lancet Oncol 24(5):496, 2023; PMID:37142372.

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External Validation of a Clinical Score for Patients Wwith Neuroendocrine Tumors Under Consideration for Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy.

Das, S. (GI), Chauhan, A., Du, L., Thomas, K.E., Jacob, A., Schad, A., Jain, S., Jessop, A., Shah, C., Eisner, D., Cardin, D.B. (GI), Ciombor, K.K. (GI), Goff, L.W. (GI), Bradshaw, M., Delbeke, D., Sandler, M., Ramirez, R.A. & Berlin, J. (GI).

JAMA Netw Open 5(1):e2144170, 2022; PMID:35044469.

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Trends in the Incidence and Treatment of Early-Onset Pancreatic Cancer.

LaPelusa, M., Shen, C., Arhin, N.D., Cardin, D. (GI), Tan, M. (GI), Idrees, K. (GI), Geevarghese, S., Chakravarthy, B., Berlin, J. (GI) & Eng, C. (GI).

Cancers (Basel) 14(2), 2022; PMC8773833.

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A Comprehensive Framework for Early-onset Colorectal Cancer Research.

Eng, C. (GI), Jácome, A.A., Agarwal, R. (GI), Hayat, M.H., Byndloss, M.X. (HT), Holowatyj, A.N. (CE), Bailey, C. (GI) & Lieu, C.H.

Lancet Oncol 2022; PMID:35090673.

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Diagnostic Efficacy of Circular RNAs as Noninvasive, Liquid Biopsy Biomarkers for Early Detection of Gastric Cancer.

Roy, S., Kanda, M., Nomura, S., Zhu, Z., Toiyama, Y., Taketomi, A., Goldenring, J. (GI), Baba, H., Kodera, Y. & Goel, A.

Mol Cancer 21(1):42, 2022; PMID:35139874.

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The Reckoning: The Return of Genomic Results to 1444 Participants Across the eMERGE3 Network.

Leppig, K.A., Kulchak Rahm, A., Appelbaum, P., Aufox, S., Bland, S.T., Buchanan, A., Christensen, K.D., Chung, W.K., Clayton, E.W., Crosslin, D., Denny, J., DeVange, S., Gordon, A., Green, R.C., Hakonarson, H., Harr, M.H., Henrikson, N., Hoell, C., Holm, I.A., Kullo, I.J., Jarvik, G.P., Lammers, P.E. (ZY), Larson, E.B., Lindor, N.M., Marasa, M., Myers, M.F., Perez, E., Peterson, J.F. (CE), Pratap, S., Prows, C.A., Ralston, J.D., Rasouly, H.M., Roden, D.M. (ZY), Sharp, R.R., Singh, R., Shaibi, G., Smith, M.E., Sturm, A., Thiese, H.A., Van Driest, S.L., Williams, J., Williams, M.S., Wynn, J., Blout Zawatsky, C.L. & Wiesner, G.L. (GI).

Genet Med 2022; PMID:35216901.

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Transitional Anal Cells Mediate Colonic Re-epithelialization in Colitis.

Liu, C.Y., Girish, N., Gomez, M.L., Dubé, P.E., Washington, M.K. (GI), Simons, B.D. & Polk, D.B.

Gastroenterology 2022; PMID:35227778.

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Fluid Shear Stress Enhances T Cell Activation Through Piezo1.

Hope, J.M., Dombroski, J.A., Pereles, R.S., Lopez-Cavestany, M., Greenlee, J.D., Schwager, S.C., Reinhart-King, C.A. (HT) & King, M.R. (GI).

BMC Biol 20(1):61, 2022; PMID:35260156.

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Interaction of lncRNA MIR100HG with hnRNPA2B1 Facilitates mA-dependent Stabilization of TCF7L2 mRNA and Colorectal Cancer Progression.

Liu, H., Li, D., Sun, L., Qin, H., Fan, A., Meng, L., Graves-Deal, R., Glass, S.E., Franklin, J.L., Liu, Q., Wang, J., Yeatman, T.J., Guo, H., Zong, H., Jin, S., Chen, Z., Deng, T., Fang, Y., Li, C., Karijolich, J. (HT), Patton, J.G. (GI), Wang, X., Nie, Y., Fan, D., Coffey, R.J. (GI), Zhao, X. & Lu, Y.

Mol Cancer 21(1):74, 2022; PMID:35279145.

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A CGA/EGFR/GATA2 Positive Feedback Circuit Confers Chemoresistance in Gastric Cancer.

Cao, T., Lu, Y., Wang, Q., Qin, H., Li, H., Guo, H., Ge, M., Glass, S.E., Singh, B. (GI), Zhang, W., Dong, J., Du, F., Qian, A., Tian, Y., Wang, X., Li, C., Wu, K., Fan, D., Nie, Y., Coffey, R.J. (GI) & Zhao, X.

J Clin Invest 132(6), 2022; PMID:35289315.

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Iron Deficiency Linked to Altered Bile Acid Metabolism Promotes Helicobacter pylori-induced Inflammation-driven Gastric Carcinogenesis.

Noto, J.M., Piazuelo, M.B. (GI), Shah, S.C., Romero-Gallo, J., Hart, J.L., Di, C., Carmichael, J.D., Delgado, A.G., Halvorson, A.E., Greevy, R.A., Wroblewski, L.E., Sharma, A., Newton, A.B., Allaman, M.M., Wilson, K.T. (GI), Washington, M.K. (GI), Calcutt, M.W., Schey, K.L. (ZY), Cummings, B.P., Flynn, C.R., Zackular, J.P. & Peek, R.M. (GI).

J Clin Invest 2022; PMID:35316215.

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Association of Pathogenic Variants in Hereditary Cancer Genes with Multiple Diseases.

Zeng, C., Bastarache, L.A., Tao, R., Venner, E., Hebbring, S., Andujar, J.D., Bland, S.T., Crosslin, D.R., Pratap, S., Cooley, A., Pacheco, J.A., Christensen, K.D., Perez, E., Zawatsky, C.L.B., Witkowski, L., Zouk, H., Weng, C., Leppig, K.A., Sleiman, P.M.A., Hakonarson, H., Williams, M.S., Luo, Y., Jarvik, G.P., Green, R.C., Chung, W.K., Gharavi, A.G., Lennon, N.J., Rehm, H.L., Gibbs, R.A., Peterson, J.F. (CE), Roden, D.M. (ZY), Wiesner, G.L. (GI) & Denny, J.C.

JAMA Oncol 2022; PMID:35446370.

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p57 Imposes the Reserve Stem Cell State of Gastric Chief Cells.

Lee, J.H., Kim, S., Han, S., Min, J., Caldwell, B., Bamford, A.D., Rocha, A.S.B., Park, J., Lee, S., Wu, S.S., Lee, H., Fink, J., Pilat-Carotta, S., Kim, J., Josserand, M., Szep-Bakonyi, R., An, Y., Ju, Y.S., Philpott, A., Simons, B.D., Stange, D.E., Choi, E. (GI), Koo, B.K. & Kim, J.K.

Cell Stem Cell 29(5):826-839.e9, 2022; PMID:35523142.

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Human Colon Cancer-derived Clostridioides difficile Strains Drive Colonic Tumorigenesis in Mice.

Drewes, J.L., Chen, J., Markham, N.O., Knippel, R.J., Domingue, J.C., Tam, A.J., Chan, J.L., Kim, L., McMann, M., Stevens, C., Dejea, C.M., Tomkovich, S., Michel, J., White, J.R., Mohammad, F., Campodonico, V.L., Heiser, C.N., Wu, X., Wu, S., Ding, H., Simner, P., Carroll, K., Shrubsole, M.J. (CE), Anders, R.A., Walk, S.T., Jobin, C., Wan, F., Coffey, R.J. (GI), Housseau, F., Lau, K.S. (CB) & Sears, C.L.

Cancer Discov 2022; PMID:35678528.

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Eicosanoids in the Pancreatic Tumor Microenvironment - a Multicellular, Multifaceted Progression.

Gubbala, V.B., Jytosana, N., Trinh, V.Q., Maurer, H.C., Naeem, R.F., Lytle, N.K., Ma, Z., Zhao, S., Lin, W., Han, H., Shi, Y., Hunter, T., Singh, P.K., Olive, K.P., Tan, M.C.B. (GI), Kaech, S.M., Wahl, G.M. & DelGiorno, K.E. (GI).

Gastro Hep Adv 1(4):682-697, 2022; PMC9583893.

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Dysplastic Stem Cell Plasticity Functions as a Driving Force for Neoplastic Transformation of Pre-cancerous Gastric Mucosa.

Min, J., Zhang, C., Bliton, R.J., Caldwell, B., Caplan, L., Presentation, K.S., Park, D.J., Kong, S.H., Lee, H.S., Washington, M.K. (GI), Kim, W.H., Lau, K.S. (CB), Magness, S.T., Lee, H.J., Yang, H.K., Goldenring, J.R. (GI) & Choi, E. (GI).

Gastroenterology 2022; PMID:35700772.

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CRISPR Screening Uncovers a Central Requirement for HHEX in Pancreatic Lineage Commitment and Plasticity Restriction.

Yang, D., Cho, H., Tayyebi, Z., Shukla, A., Luo, R., Dixon, G., Ursu, V., Stransky, S., Tremmel, D.M., Sackett, S.D., Koche, R., Kaplan, S.J., Li, Q.V., Park, J., Zhu, Z., Rosen, B.P., Pulecio, J., Shi, Z.D., Bram, Y., Schwartz, R.E., Odorico, J.S., Sidoli, S., Wright, C.V. (GI), Leslie, C.S. & Huangfu, D.

Nat Cell Biol 2022; PMID:35787684.

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SMAD4 Suppresses Colitis-associated Carcinoma through Inhibition of CCL20/CCR6-mediated Inflammation.

Hanna, D.N., Smith, P.M., Novitskiy, S.V., Washington, M.K. (GI), Zi, J., Weaver, C.J., Hamaamen, J.A., Lewis, K.B., Zhu, J., Yang, J., Liu, Q., Beauchamp, R.D. (GI) & Means, A.L. (GI).

Gastroenterology 2022; PMID:35863523.

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Treatment of Metastatic Colorectal Cancer: ASCO Guideline.

Morris, V.K., Kennedy, E.B., Baxter, N.N., Benson, A.B., Cercek, A., Cho, M., Ciombor, K.K. (GI), Cremolini, C., Davis, A., Deming, D.A., Fakih, M.G., Gholami, S., Hong, T.S., Jaiyesimi, I., Klute, K., Lieu, C., Sanoff, H., Strickler, J.H., White, S., Willis, J.A. & Eng, C. (GI).

J Clin Oncol :JCO2201690, 2022; PMID:36252154.

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Inherited Cancer Susceptibility Gene Sequence Variations Among Patients with Appendix Cancer.

Holowatyj, A.N. (CE), Washington, M.K. (GI), Tavtigian, S.V., Eng, C. (GI) & Horton, C.

JAMA Oncol 2022; PMID:36368039.

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Racial/ethnic and Sex Differences in Somatic Cancer Gene Mutations Among Patients with Early-onset Colorectal Cancer.

Holowatyj, A.N. (CE), Wen, W., Gibbs, T., Seagle, H.M., Keller, S.R., Velez Edwards, D.R. (CE), Washington, M.K. (GI), Eng, C. (GI), Perea, J., Zheng, W. (CE) & Guo, X. (CE).

Cancer Discov 2022; PMID:36520636.

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Adjuvant -Paclitaxel + Gemcitabine in Resected Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma: Results from a Randomized, Open-Label, Phase III Trial.

Tempero, M.A., Pelzer, U., O'Reilly, E.M., Winter, J., Oh, D.Y., Li, C.P., Tortora, G., Chang, H.M., Lopez, C.D., Bekaii-Saab, T., Ko, A.H., Santoro, A., Park, J.O., Noel, M.S., Frassineti, G.L., Shan, Y.S., Dean, A., Riess, H., Van Cutsem, E., Berlin, J. (GI, TR), Philip, P., Moore, M., Goldstein, D., Tabernero, J., Li, M., Ferrara, S., Le Bruchec, Y., Zhang, G., Lu, B., Biankin, A.V. & Reni, M.

J Clin Oncol :JCO2201134, 2022; PMID:36521097.

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