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Targeted Therapies for Solid Tumors pp 127–135Cite as

Targeted Therapies for Pancreatic Cancer

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Part of the book series: Current Clinical Pathology ((CCPATH))

Abstract

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma remains a devastating disease with almost equal rates of incidence and mortality. We have seen how a large amount of agents have failed in showing improved survival over gemcitabine alone in randomized clinical trials conducted in the last couple of decades. More recently, the FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy scheme has shown improvement in overall survival (OS) over the single agent gemcitabine, but unfortunately the high rates of severe adverse events make this regimen to be very difficult to use in the standard daily practice. A new agent created by nano-technology, nab-paclitaxel has recently shown in combination with gemcitabine to improve overall survival in a statistical and clinical manner over gemcitabine alone. In the last years, the molecular and biologic understanding of pancreatic cancer has advanced substantially. This includes understanding the potential importance of the tumor microenvironment, the metabolic adaptation of pancreatic cancer cells to a hypoxic environment, and the role of pancreatic cancer stem and stellate cells. In this chapter, we summarize the implications of molecular biology in clinical research and provide insights for future development of novel agents.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oncology Medical Department, Hospital Universitario de Pontevedra, Loureiro Crespo, 36002, Pontevedra, Spain

    Luis León

  2. Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal, Ctra. Colmenar Viejo Km. 9, 100 28034, Madrid, Spain

    Enrique Grande

  3. Complejo Hospitalario Universitario A Coruña, A Coruña, Spain

    Luis Antón-Aparicio

Authors
  1. Luis León
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  2. Enrique Grande
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  3. Luis Antón-Aparicio
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luis León .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgical, Oncological and Oral Sciences, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Antonio Russo

  2. Catalan Institute of Oncology, University Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain

    Rafael Rosell

  3. Oncology Department, Antwerp University Hospital, Edegem, Antwerpen, Belgium

    Christian Rolfo

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León, L., Grande, E., Antón-Aparicio, L. (2015). Targeted Therapies for Pancreatic Cancer. In: Russo, A., Rosell, R., Rolfo, C. (eds) Targeted Therapies for Solid Tumors. Current Clinical Pathology. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2047-1_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2047-1_11

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

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