Stanford University
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Lowe Lab: Stanford University

 

The pancreas and esophagus are both commonly afflicted by inflammatory and neoplastic diseases in humans. Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in men and women, and esophageal cancer ranks seventh among men. Our laboratory is focused on pancreatic and esophageal biology as it applies to human disease. The laboratory has recently used DNA microarrays to characterize the gene expression profile of esophageal and pancreatic cancer. The resultant data is being used to develop new diagnostic assays for cancer and for the identification of genes that participate in disease pathogenesis. Recent studies have focused on the genes AGR2 and GP2. Our microarray studies revealed high AGR2 gene expression in pancreatic and esophageal adenocarcinomas. When AGR2 expression is repressed using RNA interference, tumor growth is compromised. We are currently investigating how AGR2 affects tumor growth and its role in normal development.