Anirban Maitra

Anirban Maitra is a world-leading pancreatic cancer pathologist, molecular biologist, and translational researcher who serves as co-leader of the Pancreatic Cancer Moon Shot Program at MD Anderson Cancer Center and Scientific Director of the Sheikh Ahmed Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research. His laboratory's work spans fundamental biology of pancreatic cancer precursor lesions, liquid biopsy development, and translational efforts to detect PDAC at early, surgically curable stages. Maitra's foundational contributions include comprehensive molecular characterization of pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN), the most common microscopic precursor to PDAC. His work delineated the temporal sequence of somatic mutations during PanIN progression — from early KRAS activation through intermediate TP53 and SMAD4 alterations — providing the genetic roadmap of pancreatic carcinogenesis. This framework guided the design of early detection strategies targeting molecular alterations present before invasive cancer develops. A central focus of Maitra's translational research is circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) as a liquid biopsy biomarker for PDAC early detection and minimal residual disease (MRD) monitoring. His group developed and validated ctDNA assays capable of detecting ultra-low tumor fractions in plasma from patients with localized pancreatic cancer — a population in whom ctDNA levels are often too low for conventional methods to detect. These studies demonstrated that ctDNA positivity after surgical resection predicts recurrence months before radiographic detection, enabling earlier therapeutic intervention. Maitra's laboratory has also explored next-generation sequencing of pancreatic juice collected at endoscopy — a body fluid that is highly enriched for DNA shed from pancreatic ductal cells — identifying KRAS mutations and other alterations as sensitive markers for early pancreatic neoplasia. In parallel, his group has investigated the tumor microenvironment of early PanIN lesions, revealing how immune exclusion and stromal activation begin even at the precursor stage, and has evaluated strategies to overcome these barriers. Maitra serves on multiple national advisory panels and is a co-principal investigator on the NCI-funded Pancreatic Cancer Detection Consortium, advancing multi-institutional efforts to validate early detection biomarkers in high-risk populations.

Anirban Maitra 是世界领先的胰腺癌病理学家、分子生物学家和转化研究者，担任MD安德森癌症中心胰腺癌月球计划联合领导者。他的实验室工作涵盖胰腺癌前驱病变的基础生物学、液体活检开发以及早期检测的转化研究。 Maitra 奠基性的贡献包括对胰腺上皮内瘤变（PanIN）的全面分子表征，描绘了从早期KRAS激活到TP53和SMAD4改变的突变时序，为胰腺癌变的遗传路线图奠定基础。他在循环肿瘤DNA（ctDNA）液体活检方面的工作推动了PDAC早期检测和微小残留病灶监测的发展，并开创了内镜下胰液KRAS突变检测的新方法。