News & Events: Neuroendocrine Tumors

Eric Nakakura, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Surgery at UCSF and a leading authority on neuroendocrine tumors of the gastrointestinal tract and pancreas, is among a team of researchers awarded $1.2M grant by the Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation (NETRF) to elucidate the causes of small intestinal neuroendocrine tumors (SI-NETs). Dr. Nakakura said the research would help to unlock the mysteries of the disease and lead to more effective potentially curative treatments: "This project arose from unexpected clinical observations of a rare disease, which has puzzled all for over a [...]

Eric Nakakura, M.D., Ph.D., a UCSF gastrointestinal cancer surgeon and Emily Bergsland, M.D.. a UCSF gastrointestinal oncologist, recently discussed the treatment of carcinoid syndrome on "Healthy Body, Healthy Mind", a series hosted by Information Television Network (ITV), a PBS content affiliate. Dr. Nakakura is an Associate Professor in the UCSF Department of Surgery and Dr. Bergsland a Professor in the UCSF Department of Medicine. The ITV episode, which portrays the struggles of Ray Martz with carcinoid syndrome, recounts the situation he initially faced - that his condition was [...]

Eric Nakakura, M.D., Ph.D. has been awarded the 2012 Caring for Carcinoid Foundation-AACR Grant for Carcinoid Tumor and Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor Research. Dr. Nakakura will receive $250,000 over two years to understand why some patients develop resistance to mTOR inhibiting drugs like everolimus. In particular, he will focus on INK128, a new mTOR inhibitor to see if it can overcome this resistance in mouse models of pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer. He will also evaluate the utility of (68)GA-DOTATOC PET-CT to monitor tumor response to mTOR inhibiting therapies like everolimus and [...]

UCSF researchers, led by Doug Hanahan, Ph.D., have identified collections of tiny molecules known as microRNAs that affect distinct processes critical for cancer progression. The findings help elucidate the important regulatory function of microRNAs in tumor biology.  Eric Nakakura, M.D., Ph.D. (pictured), a surgeon-scientist who treats patients with challenging pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, was on the team that validated the findings, which were based on an exquisite mouse model of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. Many of the same altered microRNAs in were found to be present in human [...]