Why is this research question important?
Pancreatic cancer is hard to treat, and current therapies often don’t work as well as we’d like. Treatments aren’t always tailored to the needs of each patient, which can lead to side effects and less effective care.
Dr Zainab Rai and a multidisciplinary team at University College London are focused on improving treatment precision by studying how pancreatic cancer tissue responds to certain therapies in a lab setting. By understanding these responses, they can help doctors develop safer, more effective treatments, giving people with pancreatic cancer better options and a chance for improved outcomes.
What is the project?
Zainab and the team use donated pancreatic cancer tissue in a special lab setup to test and improve treatments. One treatment they are focusing on is called Irreversible Electroporation (IRE), which uses electrical pulses to target cancer. They’ll study how this treatment affects the tissue and use advanced tools, like imaging, to refine it.
Their goal is to figure out how to make treatments work better and more safely. They are also working closely with experts and listening to people affected by pancreatic cancer to ensure their research makes a real difference for patients.
How could the outcomes of this project make a difference to people with pancreatic cancer?
This research could lead to treatments that are safer and work better for people with pancreatic cancer. By studying how therapies like IRE affect cancer tissue, Zainab and the team can help doctors tailor treatments to each patient’s needs, reducing side effects and improving outcomes.
In the long term, this work could also speed up the development of other treatments, offering more hope for people with pancreatic cancer. Ultimately, this research aims to give patients better treatment options and a higher quality of life.
Details of the focus group
Zainab is looking to meet with members of the Research Involvement Network to get your input on the relevance of this project in the form of an online focus group. She is looking to hold the focus group in early March 2025.
Focus groups consist of small groups of RIN members along with the researcher. They are opportunities to find out more about a project, ask questions of the researcher and for the researcher to hear what you think about their project based on your personal experiences.
No scientific background or prior experience is needed to take part in this opportunity.
Next steps
If you are interested in being a part of this focus group, please contact the Dr Zainab Rai (zainab.rai.19@ucl.ac.uk) quoting the involvement reference ‘RIN focus group’.
