João Incio, MD, PhD, of the Steele lab, lead author of the study, says, “Understanding the way that obesity affects pancreatic cancer may help us identify biomarkers – such as body weight and increased levels of tumor fibrosis – that could identify patients for whom AT1 blockers or IL-1ß antibodies would be most beneficial. Since FDA-approved versions of both agents are readily available, this strategy could be readily translated into the clinic. In addition, incorporating body weight into the design of preclinical studies could better account for the lack of response to conventional chemotherapeutical drugs.”

Co-senior author Rakesh K. Jain, PhD, director of the Steele Laboratory, adds, “With the majority of pancreatic cancer patients being overweight or obese at diagnosis, uncovering potential therapeutic targets within the mechanisms associating obesity with poor cancer prognoses is the first step towards developing remedies that could disrupt this association and significantly improve patient outcome. Targeting inflammation and fibrosis holds the promise to improve the clinical outcome of this major group of cancer patients.”


Fukumura is an associate professor of Radiation Oncology, and Jain is the Cook Professor of Radiation Oncology (Tumor Biology) at Harvard Medical School. Jain is among three recipients of the 2013 National Medal of Science, which was awarded in May 2016. This year Incio received the prestigious American Association of Cancer Research Scholar-in-Training award, the European Association for Cancer Research meeting award and a poster of distinction award at the annual MGH Celebration of Science for his work on obesity and cancer in the Steele Laboratories. Additional co-authors of the Cancer Discovery paper include Hao Liu, MD, Priya Suboj, PhD, Yves Boucher, PhD, Shan Chin, MSc, and other members of the Steele Laboratories. The study also involved collaboration with researchers in the MGH Departments of Pathology, Medicine and Surgery.

This work was supported by National Institutes of Health grants CA80124, CA85140, CA96915, CA115767 and CA126642, along with support from the Lustgarten Foundation and the Foundation for Science and Technology of Portugal. MGH has filed a patent application based on this finding, which has been licensed to Xtuit Pharmaceuticals.

Massachusetts General Hospital, founded in 1811, is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The MGH Research Institute conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the nation, with an annual research budget of more than $800 million and major research centers in HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular research, cancer, computational and integrative biology, cutaneous biology, human genetics, medical imaging, neurodegenerative disorders, regenerative medicine, reproductive biology, systems biology, photomedicine and transplantation biology. The MGH topped the 2015 Nature Index list of health care organizations publishing in leading scientific journals, earned the prestigious 2015 Foster G. McGaw Prize for Excellence in Community Service and returned to the number one spot on the 2015-16 U.S. News & World Report list of "America's Best Hospitals."

Back to HCB News

Medical Research Homepage