Biological approaches to therapy of pancreatic cancer.
Pancreatic cancer is a lethal disease and notoriously difficult to treat. Only a small proportion is curative by surgical resection, whilst standard chemotherapy for patients with advanced disease has only modest effect with substantial toxicity. Clearly there is a need for the continual development of novel therapeutic agents to improve the current situation. Improvement of our understanding of the disease has generated a large number of studies on biological approaches targeting the molecular abnormalities of pancreatic cancer, including gene therapy and signal transduction inhibition, antiangiogenic and matrix metalloproteinase inhibition, oncolytic viral therapy and immunotherapy. This article provides a review of these approaches, both investigated in the laboratories and in subsequent clinical trials.
Wong
Han Hsi
HH
Centre for Molecular Oncology and Imaging, Institute of Cancer, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary, University of London, London, UK. han-hsi.wong@cancer.org.uk
Lemoine
Nicholas R
NR
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D006801:Humans; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects*
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors