TY - JOUR
T1 - Targeting the tumor microenvironment in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
AU - Pandey, Veethika
AU - Storz, Peter
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (CA200572) to P Storz.
PY - 2019/6/3
Y1 - 2019/6/3
N2 - Introduction: The dismally slow improvement in patient survival over the years for pancreatic cancer patients is mainly due to two factors: the late diagnosis, at which point the disease is spread to distant organs; and the fact that tumor cells are surrounded by a dense, highly immunosuppressive microenvironment. The tumor microenvironment not only shields pancreatic cancer cells from chemotherapy but also leaves it unsusceptible to various immunotherapeutic strategies that have been proven successful in other types of cancer. Areas covered: This review highlights the main components of the pancreatic tumor microenvironment, how they cross-talk with each other to generate stroma and promote tumor growth. Additionally, we discuss the most promising treatment targets in the microenvironment whose modulation can be robustly tested in combination with standard of care chemotherapy. Currently, active clinical trials for pancreatic cancer involving components of the microenvironment are also listed. Expert opinion: Although immunotherapeutic approaches involving checkpoint inhibition are being pursued enthusiastically, there is still more work to be done with several other emerging immune targets that could provide therapeutic benefit.
AB - Introduction: The dismally slow improvement in patient survival over the years for pancreatic cancer patients is mainly due to two factors: the late diagnosis, at which point the disease is spread to distant organs; and the fact that tumor cells are surrounded by a dense, highly immunosuppressive microenvironment. The tumor microenvironment not only shields pancreatic cancer cells from chemotherapy but also leaves it unsusceptible to various immunotherapeutic strategies that have been proven successful in other types of cancer. Areas covered: This review highlights the main components of the pancreatic tumor microenvironment, how they cross-talk with each other to generate stroma and promote tumor growth. Additionally, we discuss the most promising treatment targets in the microenvironment whose modulation can be robustly tested in combination with standard of care chemotherapy. Currently, active clinical trials for pancreatic cancer involving components of the microenvironment are also listed. Expert opinion: Although immunotherapeutic approaches involving checkpoint inhibition are being pursued enthusiastically, there is still more work to be done with several other emerging immune targets that could provide therapeutic benefit.
KW - Pancreatic cancer
KW - fibroblasts
KW - myeloid derived suppressor cells
KW - stellate cells
KW - tumor microenvironment
KW - tumor-associated macrophages
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U2 - 10.1080/14737140.2019.1622417
DO - 10.1080/14737140.2019.1622417
M3 - Review article
C2 - 31148495
AN - SCOPUS:85067177860
VL - 19
SP - 473
EP - 482
JO - Expert Review of Anticancer Therapy
JF - Expert Review of Anticancer Therapy
SN - 1473-7140
IS - 6
ER -