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

Differential cell susceptibilities to Kras in the setting of obstructive chronic pancreatitis.

Shi, C. (GI), Pan, F.C., Kim, J.N., Washington, M.K. (GI), Padmanabhan, C., Meyer, C.T., Kopp, J.L., Sander, M., Gannon, M., Beauchamp, R.D. (GI), Wright, C.V. (GI) & Means, A.L

Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol 2019; PMID:31310834.

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Interpreting heterogeneity in intestinal tuft cell structure and function.

McKinley ET, Lau KS (ST), Banerjee A, von Moltke J, Coffey RJ (GI).

J. Clin. Invest. 2018 MAY 1 128(5):1711-1719 PMID:29714721.

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APC Inhibits Ligand-Independent Wnt Signaling by the Clathrin Endocytic Pathway.

Saito-Diaz K, Benchabane H, Tiwari A, Tian A, Li B (CE), Thompson JJ, Hyde AS, Sawyer LM, Jodoin JN, Santos E, Lee LA, Coffey RJ (GI), Beauchamp RD (GI), Williams CS (GI), Kenworthy AK, Robbins DJ, Ahmed Y, Lee E (GI, ST).

Dev. Cell 2018 MAR 12 44(5):566-581.e8 PMC5884143.

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p120-Catenin is an obligate haploinsufficient tumor suppressor in intestinal neoplasia

Short SP, Kondo J, Smalley-Freed WG, Takeda H, Dohn MR, Powell AE, Carnahan RH (NP), Washington MK (GI), Tripathi M, Payne DM, Jenkins NA, Copeland NG, Coffey RJ (GI), Reynolds AB (GI)

J. Clin. Invest. 2017 NOV 13 PMID:29130932

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lncRNA MIR100HG-derived miR-100 and miR-125b mediate cetuximab resistance via Wnt/β-catenin signaling

Lu Y, Zhao X, Liu Q, Li C, Graves-Deal R, Cao Z, Singh B, Franklin JL (GI), Wang J, Hu H, Wei T, Yang M, Yeatman TJ, Lee E (GI, ST), Saito-Diaz K, Hinger S, Patton JG, Chung CH, Emmrich S, Klusmann JH, Fan D, Coffey RJ (GI)

Nat. Med. 2017 NOV 23(11):1331-1341 PMID:29035371

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Phase I/II Trial of Labetuzumab Govitecan (Anti-CEACAM5/SN-38 Antibody-Drug Conjugate) in Patients With Refractory or Relapsing Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

Dotan E, Cohen SJ, Starodub AN, Lieu CH, Messersmith WA, Simpson PS, Guarino MJ, Marshall JL, Goldberg RM, Hecht JR, Wegener WA, Sharkey RM, Govindan SV, Goldenberg DM, Berlin JD (GI, TR)

J. Clin. Oncol. 2017 OCT 10 35(29):3338-3346 PMID:28817371

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Prophage WO genes recapitulate and enhance Wolbachia-induced cytoplasmic incompatibility

LePage DP, Metcalf JA, Bordenstein SR, On J, Perlmutter JI, Shropshire JD, Layton EM, Funkhouser-Jones LJ, Beckmann JF, Bordenstein SR (GI)

Nature 2017 MAR 9 543(7644):243-247 PMC5358093

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