The Hirshberg Foundation is excited to welcome a new Symposium sponsor, GRAIL, LLC, a company at the leading edge of early detection. Welcoming leading medical professionals in the field of pancreatic cancer to our Annual Symposium on Pancreatic Cancer allows our patients, caregivers and families to learn about critical and groundbreaking advances. GRAIL has joined the medical community’s efforts to empower patients to detect cancer early with their Galleri® test. We are excited to share innovative advances that offer an opportunity to detect cancer earlier and save lives.

Galleri is a multi-cancer early detection (MCED) test; it detects signals found in DNA that cancer cells shed into the bloodstream. GRAIL’s innovative testing with Galleri has detected 50 types of cancer through a simple blood draw. Galleri allowed Jim, who was featured in a NBC nightly news story,  to detect pancreatic cancer at Stage II. Testing and continued early detection research broadens our understanding of pancreatic cancer and brings us closer to the goal of regular cancer screenings.

The ultimate goal of early detection is to save lives as early as possible, screen people at-risk, and empower our communities with the necessary tools to achieve better outcomes. Advances in early detection not only impact the progression of disease, it can also decrease the financial burden many patients face.  “Preventing cancer in the first place or detecting it early is the best way to reduce many costs associated with cancer treatment—patient out-of-pocket costs, health care payer costs, and indirect costs.” shares the American Cancer Society, Cancer Action Network.

As a Symposium sponsor, GRAIL representatives will be available to answer questions at the Symposium and discuss this technology one-on-one with patients and families in attendance.

What you should know:

• It can detect many cancers that are not commonly screened for today, to allow for earlier treatment.
• Today, 71% of cancer deaths are caused by cancers not commonly screened for.

Information about Galleri:

• Early cancer detection Testing with ease.
• Can be easily incorporated into a routine healthcare visit.
• Actionable results if a cancer signal is found, the results can point to where in the body the cancer is coming from with high accuracy to help your healthcare provider guide your next steps.

Important Galleri Safety Information

The Galleri test is recommended for use in adults with an elevated risk for cancer, such as those aged 50 or older. The Galleri test does not detect all cancers and should be used in addition to routine cancer screening tests recommended by a healthcare provider. Galleri is intended to detect cancer signals and predict where in the body the cancer signal is located. Use of Galleri is not recommended in individuals who are pregnant, 21 years old or younger, or undergoing active cancer treatment.

Results should be interpreted by a healthcare provider in the context of medical history, clinical signs and symptoms. A test result of “Cancer Signal Not Detected” does not rule out cancer. A test result of “Cancer Signal Detected” requires confirmatory diagnostic evaluation by medically established procedures (e.g. imaging) to confirm cancer.

If cancer is not confirmed with further testing, it could mean that cancer is not present or testing was insufficient to detect cancer, including due to the cancer being located in a different part of the body. False-positive (a cancer signal detected when cancer is not present) and false-negative (a cancer signal not detected when cancer is present) test results do occur. Rx only.  For more information about Galleri, visit www.galleri.com.

Spring is bustling with a renewed energy and calls to action; we’re ready to turn the next corner and beat pancreatic cancer once and for all! For every positive impact we’ve had in the scientific and medical field, there is also a family in need of our support, resources and referrals. We are a community that understands this disease must be fought on many fronts. From our upcoming Symposium to new research applications, your generous support is what allows us to fund vital programs and fight alongside our patients, families and researchers. So, let’s get ready for another exciting year of Hirshberg Foundation events that will raise awareness for pancreatic cancer communities near and far. Check out our upcoming events and what we’ve already accomplished in 2022!

In collaboration with the UCLA Agi Hirshberg Center for Pancreatic Diseases
Luskin Conference Center
April 23, 2022
8:30 am – 3:00 pm

Schedule

The Hirshberg Foundation is pleased to announce that Drs. Joe Hines and Randolph Hecht will be joining us at the 16th Annual Symposium on Pancreatic Cancer to present on the different approaches to the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

The current standard-of-care for patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) focuses on chemotherapeutic regimens and pancreatic cancer surgery. This treatment approach uses one standard to determine the course of treatment for all individuals diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Yet, with the increased availability of next-generation sequencing, doctors can now rapidly and affordably identify genomic alterations in tumors and potentially match them to an ever-growing number of targeted therapies.

Precision medicine has been an emerging approach for disease treatment and prevention that takes into account individual variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle for each person. This approach allows doctors and researchers to predict more accurately which treatment and prevention strategies will bring the best results, in contrast to a one-size-fits-all approach, with less consideration for the differences between individuals. Thanks to advances in research and technology, doctors and patients are faced with navigating the choice of precision medicine or standard-of-care when it comes to treatment.

Dr. Joe Hines is the Professor and Interim Chair of the UCLA Department of Surgery, Chair of the American Board of Surgery, past President of the American Pancreatic Association, and President of the Society of University Surgeons Foundation. Dr. Hines attended the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, trained in general surgery at UCLA, including two years of research in gastrointestinal physiology, and was then recruited to the UCLA faculty in 1997. While at UCLA he has received the Department Golden Scalpel Award for teaching excellence twelve times and the UCLA School of Medicine Award for Excellence in Education. His research has focused on angiogenesis, cytokines, and pancreatic carcinogenesis, including the role of diet in modulating these processes. He served on the NIH Scientific Review Committee Tumor Progression and Metastasis. Dr. Hines was awarded the American College of Surgeons Traveling Fellowship to Germany in 2005, and was a James IV Traveling Fellow in 2011. He is past-President of the Society of University Surgeons and has served as the Vice-President of the Pacific Coast Surgical Association, President of the Southern California Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, and was appointed to the Board of Governors of the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Hines serves on the editorial boards of Surgery, Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery, JAMA Surgery, Annals of Surgery, and is an editor of Maignot’s Abdominal Operations.

Dr. Hecht is a Professor of Clinical Medicine in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA School of Medicine. He holds the Carol and Saul Rosenzweig Chair for Cancer Therapies Development and is the Director of the UCLA Gastrointestinal Oncology Program. Dr. Hecht graduated from Eastern Virginia Medical School. He took his internal medicine residency at Northwestern and completed fellowships in gastroenterology research at the University of Chicago, and in gastroenterology and medical oncology at UCLA. Dr. Hecht is an internationally known clinical and translational researcher in the field of gastrointestinal cancers. He has published widely on the molecular biology, early detection, and treatment of gastrointestinal malignancies. He has lead and is currently directing small trials with novel agents as well as large international trials in GI and pancreatic cancers using gene therapy vectors, growth factor inhibitors and new approaches to immunotherapy.

We are fortunate to have Drs. Joe Hines and Randolph Hecht joining us to share more about the future of Precision Medicine vs. Standard of Care For Treatment at the 16th Annual Symposium.

The Hirshberg Foundation is happy to announce that Dr. Timothy Donahue will be joining us at the 16th Annual Symposium on Pancreatic Cancer to highlight the exciting collaboration efforts of the UC Pancreatic Cancer Consortium.

“The mission of the UC Pancreatic Cancer Consortium (UCPCC) is to unite scientists and clinicians across the UC cancer centers committed to pancreatic cancer research and treatment in a highly collaborative environment that accelerates the progress and impact of our work. Our vision is to improve the lives of persons diagnosed with pancreatic cancer by translating innovative research into improved clinical care.” The five cancer centers include UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, UC Irvine Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center and UC San Francisco Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Dr. Timothy Donahue is Chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology and Professor of Surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He also has a joint appointment in the Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology to facilitate his research program. Dr. Donahue is the Surgical Director of the UCLA Agi Hirshberg Center for Pancreatic Diseases. He is a very busy pancreatic surgeon and performs three to four pancreatic surgeries per week. He is genuinely interested in caring for patients with pancreatic cancer and making sure they receive state-of-the-art care. In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Donahue is the Principal Investigator of a National Institutes of Health funded research laboratory. His scientific research focuses on developing new drugs and better treatment strategies for patients with pancreatic cancer, collaborating with numerous other researchers across the UCLA campus. He is also dedicated to training the next generation of academic surgeons and serves as the Program Director of the UCLA General Surgery Residency.

Collaboration is the key to improving patient outcomes, and ultimately finding a cure for pancreatic cancer. Dr. Donahue is no stranger to collaboration and we are excited to hear from him on what the future holds with his presentation, UC Pancreatic Cancer Consortium: Collaboration at Work.

We’re thrilled to announce Dr. Zhaoping Li will return to address the importance of nutrition for pancreatic cancer patients at the 16th Annual Symposium on Pancreatic Cancer.

Dr. Li has been a Hirshberg Foundation seed grant recipient and has presented a number of symposium lectures on the important role nutrition plays for pancreatic cancer patients. She is consistently requested by our participants as a speaker year after year. She has been our Honorary Medical Chair for the LA Cancer Challenge, presented an in-person Cooking Healthy Class and was the first to join our Patient & Family Webinar Series with her webinar How to Eat and Live Well During Coronavirus. Dr. Li always has crucial information to share that continues to improve the lives of our patients.

Dr. Li is a Professor of Medicine and the Director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, Chief of the Division ofClinical Nutrition in the Department of Medicine, at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA  and VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System. She is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Physician Nutrition Specialist. Dr. Li’s primary areas of research are the role of nutrition, phytochemicals, and microbiota in the prevention and treatment of metabolic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and common forms of cancer. She has published over 150 peer-reviewed papers in journals such as JAMA, Annals of Internal Medicine, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,and Journal of American Dietetic Association.

A very important topic, we are so happy to have Dr. Li joining us to discuss Nutritional Myths with Pancreatic Cancer at the 16th Annual Symposium.