May 6th, 2013
PancreasFest 2013 (PF13) : July 24-26
Program Website: http://pancreasfest.com/
Focus on:
- Acute Pancreatitis – NIDDK Conference
- Chronic Pancreatitis – NAPS2 breakthroughs
- Pancreatic Cancer - Anil Rustgi MD – 2013 Brufsky Awardee
- Working Committee on Pancreas Center of Excellence Criteria.
- Annual Meeting of CAPER – NEW –> Advanced Endoscopy Sessions.
.
NIDDK-NCI Workshop on Pancreatitis-Diabetes-Pancreatic Cancer:
June 12-13, 2013. Bethesda MD. An important conference is being planned to explore the known and suspected mechanisms for the increased risk for pancreatic cancer associated with chronic pancreatitis and diabetes mellitus, to review the effects of anti-diabetic therapy on the development of pancreatic cancer and other related topics. See Program Link. Registration.
Chronic Pancreatitis Symposium 2014
The program for the International Symposium on the Medical and Surgical Treatment of Chronic Pancreatitis scheduled for on February 6-8, 2014 at Kiawah Island, SC., is now available. PROGRAM
PEaRL (Pancreas Education and Research News) is a newsletter dedicated to patients and families that have participated in major research studies on pancreatic diseases, including NAPS2, PROOF, Hereditary Pancreatitis and others. It answers questions like “What happened to the information and blood samples that I gave?” and “What research advances have I contributed to?” and “Is there anything new that I or my family should know about?” See previous issues of PEaRL.
Breakthrough: Alcohol, CLDN2 & Chronic Pancreatitis in men:
Press Release
A genetic link between alcohol drinking and chronic pancreatitis in men has been discovered. An advanced online report has was published (see PMID: 23143602 ) that largely explains why men have chronic alcoholic pancreatitis more often then women. A region on Chromosome X called the “CLDN2 locus” seems to cause a rapid progression from acute pancreatitis to chronic pancreatitis, rather than recovery, in persons who continue to drink alcohol after acute pancreatitis. About 4% of men in the United states are at risk because they have BOTH the X-factor and are drinking alcohol (>4 drinks per day). Men have the XY chromosome pair, while women have XX. Having two X chromosomes, with at least one being normal protects women – only 0.6% of women in the United States are at risk. The study also showed that a genetic factor on chromosome 7 that decreases expression of trypsin reduces the risk of recurrent acute and chronic pancreatitis. (for more information see UPMC Press Release)
NOTE: The Physician and Scientists links (above) have been unlocked.
New & Improved Classification of Acute Pancreatitis
An “international multidisciplinary consultation” by the Pancreatitis Across Nations Clinical Research and Education Alliance (PANCREA) has led to the development of an improved method of classifying the severity of acute pancreatitis (PMID: 22735715). It is recommended that pancreatitis be classified into four deterministic categories:
|
Mild AP |
Moderate
AP |
Severe
AP |
Critical
AP |
| (Peri)pancreatic necrosis |
Sterile
|
Sterile
|
Infected
|
Infected
|
|
and
|
and/or
|
or
|
and
|
| Organ failure |
No
|
Transient
|
Persistent
|
Persistent
|
-
New CME Program on Chronic Pancreatitis
Drs Whitcomb & Forsmark discuss advances in science that translate into better treatment of chonic pancreatitis.
***
CME credit for physicians
(click on image to open a new page)
New PRSS1 – Website.
A new web site has been launched to provide information on the functional consequence of various cationic trypsinogen (PRSS1) mutations. The site is maintained by Dr. Miklos Sahin-Toth and Dr. Balazs Nemeth. Click here to visit.
Personalized approaches to treatment of Pancreatitis.
David Whitcomb MD PhD and Adam Slivka MD PhD discuss the advances in the treatment of pancreatitis using genetics. (View of the Whitcomb lab, University of Pittsburgh)
PEaRL .:. Pancreatitis Education and Research Letter
PEaRL news letter page – See “Patient Information” link above
- previous PEaRLs - PEaRL Page
Pancreas Eduction and Research News (PEARL) – Winter 2012-13.
