UToledo Scientist Targets Pancreatic Cancer's Weak Spot

Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest diseases in America, but a scientist in Ohio may have found a new way to fight back.

Dr. Kuo-Hui Su, an assistant professor at the University of Toledo, just received an $80,000 grant from Ohio Cancer Research to study why pancreatic cancer cells are so good at surviving treatments meant to destroy them. His research focuses on a protein that helps these stubborn cells stay alive when they should be dying.

The protein, called Heat Shock Factor 1 or HSF1, acts like a survival coach for cancer cells under stress. For the past five years, Su's lab has been studying how HSF1 helps pancreatic cancer cells adapt and resist therapy. Now they're investigating something new: how this protein controls the way cancer cells burn fat for fuel.

"We found that HSF1 is not only involved in the protein stress response but also helps regulate metabolism," Su said. His team wants to know if blocking this protein can create a weakness in pancreatic cancer that doctors can exploit.

The research could complement existing treatments that target common cancer mutations like KRAS. If Su's team can prove that disrupting HSF1 works, it might give doctors a powerful new tool to combine with current therapies.

Su isn't working alone. He's teaming up with fellow UToledo researchers Dr. Shi-He Liu, Dr. Charles Thodeti, and Dr. Andrea Kalinoski. Together, they're using resources from the Northwest Ohio Cancer Research Institute, which opened in 2025 to connect cancer scientists across the region.

The Ripple Effect

This two-year grant does more than fund one lab. It represents how early-stage research can open doors to bigger discoveries. The data Su generates could help him secure larger federal grants and eventually lead to clinical trials that benefit patients nationwide.

Su already holds a four-year grant from the American Cancer Society to study another aspect of HSF1's role in pancreatic cancer. His work builds on training he received at the National Cancer Institute before joining UToledo in 2021.

Every discovery about how cancer cells survive brings researchers closer to understanding how to stop them. For the thousands of families facing pancreatic cancer diagnoses each year, research like Su's offers something precious: hope that tomorrow's treatments will work better than today's.