CFCF Awards New Research Grant to Dr. Eric Nakakura to Study Resistance to mTOR Inhibition in Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors

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 INK128.