The PANcreatic Disease ReseArch (PANDoRA) consortium : ten years' experience of association
studies to understand the genetic architecture of pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer has an incidence that almost matches its mortality. Only a small
number of risk factors and 33 susceptibility loci have been identified. so Moreover,
the relative rarity of pancreatic cancer poses significant hurdles for research aimed
at increasing our knowledge of the genetic mechanisms contributing to the disease.
Additionally, the inability to adequately power research questions prevents small
monocentric studies from being successful. Several consortia have been established
to pursue a better understanding of the genetic architecture of pancreatic cancers.
The Pancreatic disease research (PANDoRA) consortium is the largest in Europe. PANDoRA
is spread across 12 European countries, Brazil and Japan, bringing together 29 basic
and clinical research groups. In the last ten years, PANDoRA has contributed to the
discovery of 25 susceptibility loci, a feat that will be instrumental in stratifying
the population by risk and optimizing preventive strategies.
