Liver and Pancreaticobiliary Cancer
Our workÌý
Our mission at the Pereira/Acedo Group () is to lead the way in advancing the understanding and management of liver, pancreatic, and biliary diseases.
With a strong emphasis on clinical excellence and translational research, we are dedicated to unravelling the complexities of these challenging conditions, seeking minimally invasive early detection biomarkers, and developing novel therapeutic strategies to improve patient outcomes.
As a major education site, we are committed to nurturing the next generation of medical professionals, providing comprehensive training.
Collaborating with esteemed institutions globally, we aim to create a dynamic, multicultural research hub that fosters innovative solutions and translates scientific discoveries into tangible improvements in patient care.
Translational research
This research focuses on the discovery and validation of early detection biomarkers and the evaluation of novel therapeutic strategies to improve the outcome of patients with pancreaticobiliary diseases (e.g. cholangiocarcinoma and pancreatic cancer).
Our work includes:
- Biomarker discovery and validation for early diagnosisÌý
- Biomarkers as surrogate markers for treatment responseÌý
- Serum, tissue and urine biobank collectionÌý
- Nanoparticles as diagnostic tools and drug delivery systems
- 3D disease models (e.g. scaffolds, organoids)Ìý
- Light-based and minimally-invasive therapies
- Imaging studies
- Spatial Transcriptomics
Clinical activities
A. Clinical trialsÌý
Our clinical trials are based on testing Novel Therapies such as endoscopic ultrasound-guided radiofrequency ablation or irreversible electroporation (IRE).
B. Clinical Studies
In this study, doctors and researchers want to look at blood, urine and tissue samples from people who have symptoms similar to those with:
- pancreatic cancer
- neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) of the pancreas
- bile duct cancerÌý
In most cases, such symptoms are caused by many other benign conditions. But it is important to make sure that those that are due to cancerÌýare diagnosed early. We hope the results of this study will help them develop new tests to diagnose pancreatic cancer and NETs of the pancreas at an early stage.
The Pilar/Acedo GroupÌý
Iulia Munteanu
Yang Yuchen
Syeda Hibba tul Hayee
Maria Rosado RodrÃguez
Rosanne Roys
Ìý
Current master's and visiting students
- Nurul Sarifah
- Samiihah Ollee
- Carolina San Pedro Liberal
- Elif Ceyda Çelik
- Paula Gomez Mendez
- Eva Perez Barciela
- Andres Gordo Ortiz
- Maria Reviejo Diaz
Selected publications
- Beyer F, Rice S, Pereira S, et al. (2023) Health Technol Assess. 27 (7): 1-118.
- Papaefthymiou A, Johnson G, Pereira S et al. (2023) ÌýCancers (Basels). 15(9):2627.Ìý
- Nené N, Ney A, Pereira S,Ìýet al. (2023) . Nature. Communications Medicine. 3(10).
- Al-Akkad W, Acedo P, Ney A, Pereira S, et al. (2022) ÌýCells. 11(22), 3652.
- Machicado J, Napoleon B, Pereira S, et al. (2022) Pancreatology. 22(7):994-1002.Ìý
- Ney A, Garcia-Sampedro A, Acedo P, Pereira S,Ìýet al. (2021) Front Oncol. 11:699401.Ìý
- Marin J, Prete MG, Acedo P,Ìýet al. (2021) ÌýBr J Cancer. 125(6):904.Ìý
- Garcia-Sampedro A, Acedo P & Pereira S. (2021) Springer.
- Gonzalez-Valdivieso J, Garcia-Sampedro A, Pereira S, Acedo P,Ìýet al. (2021)ÌýÌýACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 13(47): 55790-55805.
- Garcia-Sampedro A, Ney A, Mahamed I,ÌýAcedo P,Ìýet al. (2021) ÌýJ Clin Med. 10(4):566.
- Skuja V, Nakov R, Acedo P, et al. (2020)ÌýUnited European Gastroenterology Journal. 8(3); 355-358.
- Garcia-Sampedro A, Mahamed I, Acedo P, et al. (2020) ÌýJournal of Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines. 23(01);11-27
- Heinrich H, Rodriguez-lago I, Acedo P, et al. (2020)ÌýÌýUnited European Gastroenterology Journal8(2);227-232.Ìý
- Acedo P, Fernandes A & Zawacka-Pankau J. (2019)ÌýÌýFuture Science OA. 5(2).
- Enck P, Meisner S, Acedo P, et al. (2019) ÌýSage Publications Inc. 7(6);859-863.
- Jiang L, Malik N, Acedo P, et al. (2019)ÌýÌýCell Death Discovery. 5;2058-7716.
Funding and partnershipsÌý
Active Grants
- CRUK-PCUK-EPSRC project grants supporting multidisciplinary research to develop novel diagnostics and treatments for pancreatic cancer (projects: EDPAN; EXPAND; PaNanoMRI; EPIC DIVE).Ìý
- EU Twinning and EPSRC grants to foster international collaborations and improve imaging of pancreatic cancer and precursor lesions.Ìý
- PCUK Career Development (PI: ACEDO, project: BIOPANC) and PCRF (PI: Litchfield; co-PI: Pereira) grants supporting research on novel areas of the microbiome and immunobiology of pancreatic cancer to improve early pancreatic cancer detection. Ìý
- CRUK Early Detection and Diagnosis Programme Award. Project title: CANDETECT (Accelerating detection of upper gastrointestinal (UGI) cancers using a multi-cancer early detection platform in primary care).
Group Memberships
- EUPancreas (Integrated European Platform for Pancreatic Cancer Research)
- (IPSCSG) International PSC Study Group
- UK-PSC Consortium
- ENS-CCA
- CCA-UK
- UEG
Industry Collaborators
- Immunovia AB – Lund, Sweden
- Micronoma Inc – San Diego, USA
- Olink
- Nordic Biosciences
Ìý
Related programmes
Contact details
- Dr Pilar Acedo (p.nunez@ucl.ac.uk)Ìý(Twitter: )
- Prof. Stephen Pereira (stephen.pereira@ucl.ac.uk)
Address
Division of Medicine, Institute for Liver and Digestive Health Ìý
Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Medical School
Upper 3rd Floor Royal Free Hospital
LONDON
NW3 2QG