Pancreatic cancer ranks as the 4^th leading cause of cancer death in the U.S., costing over $2.6 billion in total health care costs, yet it is one of the few cancers for which survival has not improved substantially over the past 30 years. In 2009, it was estimated that over 42,400 individuals would be diagnosed with and nearly 35,200 will die of pancreatic cancer in the United States. The average life expectancy of a newly diagnosed pancreatic cancer patient is approximately 3-6 months; the five-year survival rate is only about 5%.