title: The role of hypoxia in pancreatic cancer: a potential therapeutic target?
abstract: One of the key factors that correlates with poor survival of patients with pancreatic cancer is the extent of hypoxic areas within the tumor tissue. The adaptation of pancreatic cancer cells to limited oxygen delivery promotes the induction of an invasive and treatment-resistant phenotype, triggering metastases at an early stage of tumor development, which resist in most cases adjuvant therapies following tumor resection. In this article, the authors summarize the evidence demonstrating the significance of hypoxia in pancreatic cancer pathogenesis and discuss the possible hypoxia-induced mechanisms underlying its aggressive nature. We then conclude with promising strategies that target hypoxia-adapted pancreatic cancer cells.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Surgery , Koç University School of Medicine , Istanbul , Turkey.
authors.forename: Mert
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Erkan
authors.affiliation: b Department of Oncology , Koç University School of Medicine , Istanbul , Turkey.
authors.forename: Metin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kurtoglu
authors.affiliation: c Department of Surgery , The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals , Liverpool , UK.|d Department of General-, Visceral- and Pediatric Surgery , University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf , Düsseldorf , Germany.
authors.forename: Jorg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kleeff
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015687:Cell Hypoxia; D015195:Drug Design; D006801:Humans; D051793:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism*; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D010641:Phenotype; D015398:Signal Transduction; D059016:Tumor Microenvironment
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D051793:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1; D010100:Oxygen
keywords: PEGPH20; Pancreatic cancer; TH-302; cancer stem cell; desmoplasia; epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition; hypoxia; metabolism