Project Title: Role of monocytes in the metastatic process:
identification of novel molecular targets
to fight pancreatic cancer
Project Aims: Pancreatic tumours release cancer cells which circulate in the bloodstream and it’s thought that white blood cells help these circulating cancer cells nest, proliferate and form new tumours in other organs. Dr Schmid believes this is the weakest link in the chain of events leading to cancer spread, since only a small proportion of these cancer cells are able to successfully grow at distant sites. This new project aims to identify how white blood cells aid this process, so that they can design and test ways to prevent this.