title: Pancreatic cancer, inflammation, and microbiome.
abstract: Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal cancers worldwide. No effective screening methods exist, and available treatment modalities do not effectively treat the disease. Inflammatory conditions such as pancreatitis represent a well-known risk factor for pancreatic cancer development. Yet only in the past 2 decades has pancreatic cancer been recognized as an inflammation-driven cancer, and the precise mechanisms underlying the pathogenic role of inflammation are beginning to be explored in detail. A substantial amount of preclinical and clinical evidence suggests that bacteria are likely to influence this process by activating immune receptors and perpetuating cancer-associated inflammation. The recent explosion of investigations of the human microbiome have highlighted how perturbations of commensal bacterial populations can promote inflammation and promote disease processes, including carcinogenesis. The elucidation of the interplay between inflammation and microbiome in the context of pancreatic carcinogenesis will provide novel targets for intervention to prevent and treat pancreatic cancer more efficiently. Further studies toward this direction are urgently needed.
authors.affiliation: From the *S. Arthur Localio Laboratory, Department of Surgery, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY; †Department of Basic Science and Craniofacial Biology, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, NY; and ‡Department of Cell Biology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Constantinos P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Zambirinis
authors.forename: Smruti
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pushalkar
authors.forename: Deepak
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Saxena
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D064307:Microbiota; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D012307:Risk Factors