Professor Paula Ghaneh has been awarded the Hirshberg Foundation Award for the Best Paper in Pancreatic Cancer by the American Pancreatic Association (APA).
The paper is entitled ‘ESPAC-5F: Four arm, prospective, multicentre, international randomised phase II trial of immediate surgery compared with neoadjuvant gemcitabine plus capecitabine (GEMCAP) or FOLFIRINOX or chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in patients with borderline resectable pancreatic cancer’.
Funded by Cancer Research UK, the research examined the benefits of pancreatic cancer patients receiving chemotherapy / chemotherapy and radiotherapy prior to surgery for difficult to remove tumours. The research found that treatment prior to surgery had a significant survival benefit in comparison with immediate surgery.
Professor Ghaneh said: “I am delighted to receive this award for our research. Patients with borderline resectable pancreatic cancer have poor survival and low resection rates and this study has demonstrated an improvement in outcome for these patients. These results will inform future trials of neoadjuvant therapy.”
Professor Sonia Rocha, Executive Dean of the Institute said: “I am thrilled that Paula’s work has been recognised with such an important prize. This work is incredibly important as it tackles a cancer with one of the lowest survival rates. This award is well deserved and acknowledges the important contributions that Paula and her team have made in the area of pancreatic cancer.”
As the winning recipient, Professor Ghaneh received $1,000 as well as an official plaque of recognition in recognition of her outstanding work in the field of pancreatic cancer research. Professor Ghaneh received her award in an APA 2020 Virtual Award Ceremony on 31 October.
The Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research is dedicated to advancing pancreatic cancer research, and providing information, resources, and support to pancreatic cancer patients and their families.