Penn to share $8 million grant for esophageal cancer research

A research group at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania will share a nearly $8 million grant from the National Cancer Institute with the Mayo Clinic and Columbia University to establish a translational research network to investigate the causes of Barrett’s esophagus, a condition that can be a precursor to esophageal cancer.

John Lynch, who leads the Penn team, is an assistant professor of medicine in the division of gastroenterology, and one of six principal investigators in the group.

The networks will investigate the impact of chronic inflammation and bile acids in molecular pathways and stem/progenitor cells. They will explore how to target these cells for developing preventive and therapeutic treatments.

The Penn project members will contribute a a large patient population and Barrett’s inflammatory animal models to the network.

Lynch said: “Our understanding of the pathogenesis of Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma has lagged behind that of other cancers because we have not yet developed physiologically relevant laboratory models and an integrated research network, both of which are supported by this award.”