Cancers, Vol. 13, Pages 2427: Does the Microenvironment Hold the Hidden Key for Functional Precision Medicine in Pancreatic Cancer?

Cancers, Vol. 13, Pages 2427: Does the Microenvironment Hold the Hidden Key for Functional Precision Medicine in Pancreatic Cancer? Cancers doi: 10.3390/cancers13102427 Authors: John Kokkinos Anya Jensen George Sharbeen Joshua A. McCarroll David Goldstein Koroush S. Haghighi Phoebe A. Phillips Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most lethal cancers and no significant improvement in patient survival has been seen in the past three decades. Treatment options are limited and selection of chemotherapy in the clinic is usually based on the performance status of a patient rather than the biology of their disease. In recent years, research has attempted to unlock a personalised treatment strategy by identifying actionable molecular targets in tumour cells or using preclinical models to predict the effectiveness of chemotherapy. However, these approaches rely on the biology of PDAC tumour cells only and ignore the importance of the microenvironment and fibrotic stroma. In this review, we highlight the importance of the microenvironment in driving the chemoresistant nature of PDAC and the need for preclinical models to mimic the complex multi-cellular microenvironment of PDAC in the precision medicine pipeline. We discuss the potential for ex vivo whole-tissue culture models to inform precision medicine and their role in developing novel therapeutic strategies that hit both tumour and stromal compartments in PDAC. Thus, we highlight the critical r...
Source: Cancers - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Review Source Type: research