Topic Highlight
Copyright ©2014 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Oct 28, 2014; 20(40): 14717-14725
Published online Oct 28, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i40.14717
Novel strategies for managing pancreatic cancer
Welley S Loc, Jill P Smith, Gail Matters, Mark Kester, James H Adair
Welley S Loc, Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, United States
Jill P Smith, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease, The National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, United States
Jill P Smith, Department of Medicine, The Pennsylvania State University, College of Medicine, Hershey, PA 17033, United States
Gail Matters, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, College of Medicine, Hershey, PA 17033, United States
Mark Kester, James H Adair, Department of Pharmacology, The Pennsylvania State University, College of Medicine, Hershey, PA 17033, United States
James H Adair, Departments of Materials Science and Engineering, and Bioengineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, United States
Author contributions: Loc WS contributed by acquisition of data, drafting and writing of manuscript and redrawing figures, performing edits and final approval of submitted manuscript; Smith JP, Matters G, Kester M, and Adair JH contributed to the conception and design, data acquisition, critical and edits, and approval of final version for publication.
Supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 Grant 5R01CA167535-02
Correspondence to: James H Adair, PhD, Departments of Materials Science and Engineering, and Bioengineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, 223 Hallowell Building, PA 16802, United States. jha3@ems.psu.edu
Telephone: +1-814-8636047 Fax: +1-814-8652917
Received: January 10, 2014
Revised: March 14, 2014
Accepted: May 12, 2014
Published online: October 28, 2014
Processing time: 292 Days and 14.3 Hours
Abstract

With the incidence reports of pancreatic cancer increasing every year, research over the last several decades has been focused on the means to achieve early diagnosis in patients that are at a high risk of developing the malignancy. This review covers current strategies for managing pancreatic cancer and further discusses efforts in understanding the role of early onset symptoms leading to tumor progression. Recent investigations in this discussion include type 3c diabetes, selected biomarkers and pathways related to pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia lesions, drug resistance, and advances in nanomedicine which may provide significant solutions for improving early detection and treatments in future medicine.

Keywords: Pancreatic cancer; Diagnosis; Treatment; Signaling pathways; Nanomedicine; Biomarkers

Core tip: Pancreatic cancer is currently one of the most aggressive cancers without standard treatment for improving chances of long-term survival. This paper highlights significant research in translational nanomedicine and the challenges in treating pancreatic cancer.