title: Pancreatic cancer: current standards, working towards a new therapeutic approach.
abstract: Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths with a 5-year survival of 4-6%. Clinical challenges remain to be addressed, since few promising approaches to treat pancreatic cancer have been reported. Here we discuss the potential of a new biotherapeutic agent composed of a lysosomal protein (Saposin C, SapC) and an acidic phospholipid (dioleoylphosphatidylserine, DOPS) which can be assembled into stable nanovesicles (SapC-DOPS) for tackling pancreatic cancer. Phosphatidylserine (PS) is a lipid biomarker on membrane surface of pancreatic cancer cells and can be effectively targeted by SapC-DOPS nanovesicles for cancer-selective therapy. SapC-DOPS nanovesicles have shown excellent pre-clinical therapeutic and safety profiles. Safety profiles which suggests that this new approach is potentially a viable option for pancreatic cancer therapy that is worthy of further clinical development.
authors.affiliation: University of Cincinnati - Hematology-Oncology, Internal Medicine, The Vontz Center for Molecular Studies 3125 Eden Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45267-0508, USA.
authors.forename: Olugbenga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Olowokure
authors.forename: Xiaoyang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qi
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*