Cancers, Vol. 13, Pages 4932: The Heterogeneity of the Tumor Microenvironment as Essential Determinant of Development, Progression and Therapy Response of Pancreatic Cancer

Cancers, Vol. 13, Pages 4932: The Heterogeneity of the Tumor Microenvironment as Essential Determinant of Development, Progression and Therapy Response of Pancreatic Cancer Cancers doi: 10.3390/cancers13194932 Authors: Young Researchers in Inflammatory Carcinogenesis Group Anna Wandmacher Anne-Sophie Mehdorn Susanne Sebens Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is commonly diagnosed at advanced stages and most anti-cancer therapies have failed to substantially improve prognosis of PDAC patients. As a result, PDAC is still one of the deadliest tumors. Tumor heterogeneity, manifesting at multiple levels, provides a conclusive explanation for divergent survival times and therapy responses of PDAC patients. Besides tumor cell heterogeneity, PDAC is characterized by a pronounced inflammatory stroma comprising various non-neoplastic cells such as myofibroblasts, endothelial cells and different leukocyte populations which enrich in the tumor microenvironment (TME) during pancreatic tumorigenesis. Thus, the stromal compartment also displays a high temporal and spatial heterogeneity accounting for diverse effects on the development, progression and therapy responses of PDAC. Adding to this heterogeneity and the impact of the TME, the microbiome of PDAC patients is considerably altered. Understanding this multi-level heterogeneity and considering it for the development of novel therapeutic concepts might finally improve the dismal situation of PDAC patients. Here, we ou...
Source: Cancers - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Review Source Type: research