Pancreatic Cancer: Updates on Translational Research and Future Applications

  • Evangelos G Sarris Oncology Unit, Third Department of Medicine, University of Athens, Sotiria General Hospital. Athens, Greece
  • Konstantinos N Syrigos Oncology Unit, Third Department of Medicine, University of Athens, Sotiria General Hospital. Athens, Greece
  • Muhammad Wasif Saif Department of Medicine and Cancer Center, Tufts Medical Center. Boston, MA, USA
Keywords: Adenocarcinoma, Biological Markers, Pancreatic Neoplasms, Pharmacogenomics, Translational Medical Research

Abstract

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal malignancies with a mortality rate almost equal to its incidence. It is ranked as the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, and despite intensive basic and clinical research over the last few years, the survival benefit for the majority of patients with pancreatic cancer is still disappointing. Due to the absence of specific symptoms and the lack of early detection tests, pancreatic cancer is usually diagnosed at an advanced inoperrable stage and palliative chemotherapy with the purine analogue gemcitabine in combination with the targeted agent erlotinib, remains the mainstay method in the management of these patients. Therefore, there is an imperative need for new findings in the translational research field with prognostic, predictive and therapeutic value. In this paper we summarize five most interesting research abstracts as presented at the 2013 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium. In particular, we focus on Abstract #141 which investigates the interaction between liver and pancreatic organ damage in patients with pancreatic cancer and the potential contribution of the patatin-like phospholipase domain containing 3 (PNPLA3) gene variation in pancreatic cancer development and on Abstract #149, in which, the prognostic and predictive role of SWI/SNF complex, a chromatin-remodeling complex, is examined. The key role of pharmacogenomics, in terms of predicting response and resistance to chemotherapy in pancreatic cancer patients, is analyzed in Abstract #142 and the contribution of circulating tumor cell detection in the early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, allowing the avoidance of more invasive procedures like EUS-FNA, is discussed in Abstract #157. Lastly, in Abstract #164, the diagnostic utility of YKL-40 and IL-6 in pancreatic cancer patients is investigated.

Image: "Sotiria" ("Salvation") General Hospital. Athens, Greece.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Nakamura K, Nagata C, Wada K, Tamai Y, Tsuji M, et al. Cigarette smoking and other lifestyle factors in relation to the risk of pancreatic cancer death: a prospective cohort study in Japan. Jpn J Clin Oncol 2011; 41: 225–231.

Tang H, Dong X, Hassan M, Abbruzzese JL, Li D. Body mass index and obesity- and diabetes-associated genotypes and risk for pancreatic cancer. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2011; 20: 779–792.

Magruder JT, Elahi D, Andersen DK. Diabetes and pancreatic cancer: chicken or egg? Pancreas 2011; 40: 339–351.

Johansen D, Stocks T, Jonsson H, Lindkvist B, Bjorge T, et al. Metabolic factors and the risk of pancreatic cancer: a prospective analysis of almost 580,000 men and women in the Metabolic Syndrome and Cancer Project. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2010; 19: 2307–2317.

Gapstur SM, Jacobs EJ, Deka A, McCullough ML, Patel AV, et al. Association of alcohol intake with pancreatic cancer mortality in never smokers. Arch Intern Med 2011; 171: 444–451.

Wang W, Liao Z, Li G, Li ZS, Chen J, et al. Incidence of Pancreatic Cancer in Chinese Patients with Chronic Pancreatitis. Pancreatology 2011; 11: 16–23.

Hezel AF, Kimmelman AC, Stanger BZ, Bardeesy N, Depinho RA. Genetics and biology of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Genes Dev 2006; 20: 1218–1249.

Iloeje UH, Yang HI, Jen CL, Su J, Wang LY, et al. Risk of pancreatic cancer in chronic hepatitis B virus infection: data from the REVEAL-HBV cohort study. Liver Int 2010; 30: 423–429.

Hassan MM, Li D, El-Deeb AS, Wolff RA, Bondy ML, et al. Association between hepatitis B virus and pancreatic cancer. J Clin Oncol 2008; 26: 4557–4562.

Strimpakos A, Saif MW, Syrigos KN. Pancreatic cancer: from molecular pathogenesis to targeted therapy. Cancer Metastasis Rev 2008; 27:495-522.

Strimpakos A, Hoimes C, Syrigos KN, Saif MW. Pancreatic Cancer and Personalized Medicine: Can Genomics Facilitate Early Diagnosis or Improve Therapeutic Outcomes? Current Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Medicine 2010; 1: 73-88.

Mohammed Aly, Ibrahim Halil Sahin, Donghui Li, Mohamed Fahd Khalil, Ping Chang, et al. Pancreatic injury, genetic variation of PNPLA3, and risk of pancreatic cancer. J Clin Oncol 30: 2012 (suppl 34; abstr 141)

Sookoian S, Pirola CJ. PNPLA3, the triacylglycerol synthesis/hydrolysis/storage dilemma, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. World J Gastroenterol 2012 Nov 14; 18(42):6018-26.

Falleti E, Fabris C, Cmet S, Cussigh A, Bitetto D, et al. PNPLA3 rs738409C/G polymorphism in cirrhosis: relationship with the aetiology of liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma occurrence. Liver Int 2011 Sep; 31(8):1137-43.

Masakatsu Numata, Soichiro Morinaga, Takuo Watanabe, Hiroshi Tamagawa, Naoto Yamamoto, et al. The clinical significance of SWI/SNF complex in pancreatic cancer. J Clin Oncol 30: 2012 (suppl 34; abstr 149)

Medina PP, Sanchez-Cespedes M. Involvement of the chromatin-remodeling factor BRG1/SMARCA4 in human cancer. Epigenetics 2008 Mar-Apr; 3(2):64-8.

Vineet Sangar, Mark Ricigliano, Eileen Mary O'Reilly, Ghassan K. Abou-Alfa, Maeve Aine Lowery, et al. Use of pharmacogenomic modeling in pancreatic cancer for prediction of chemotherapy response and resistance. J Clin Oncol 30: 2012 (suppl 34; abstr 142)

Paul Basile, Isabelle iwanicki-Caron, Emmanuel Toure, Michel Antonietti, Stephane Lecleire, et al. Usefulness of circulating tumor cell detection in pancreatic adenocarcinoma diagnosis. J Clin Oncol 30: 2012 (suppl 34; abstr 157)

Nicolai Aagaard Schultz, Ib Jarle Christensen, Jens Werner, Nathalia Giese, Benny Vittrup Jensen, et al. Pretreatment plasma concentrations of YKL-40 and IL-6 in patients with pancreatic cancer: Potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. J Clin Oncol 30: 2012 (suppl 34; abstr 164)

Sotiria General Hospital. Athens, Greece
Published
2013-03-10
How to Cite
SarrisE., SyrigosK., & SaifM. (2013). Pancreatic Cancer: Updates on Translational Research and Future Applications. JOP. Journal of the Pancreas, 14(2), 145-148. https://doi.org/10.6092/1590-8577/1466
Section
Highlights from the “2013 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium”. San Francisco, CA, USA. January 24-26, 2013

Most read articles by the same author(s)

1 2 > >>