Open AccessNovel therapies targeting hypoxia mechanism to treat pancreatic cancer
Author(s) -
Wenhao Luo,
Jiangdong Qiu,
Lianfang Zheng,
Taiping Zhang
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
chinese journal of cancer research/chinese journal of cancer research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1993-0631
pISSN - 1000-9604
DOI - 10.21147/j.issn.1000-9604.2021.02.09
Subject(s) - medicine , hypoxia (environmental) , metastasis , pancreatic cancer , clinical trial , mechanism (biology) , cancer , cancer research , oncology , bioinformatics , biology , philosophy , chemistry , organic chemistry , epistemology , oxygen
Pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the deadliest malignancies. The high mortality rate of PC largely results from delayed diagnosis and early metastasis. Therefore, identifying novel treatment targets for patients with PC is urgently required to improve survival rates. A major barrier to successful treatment of PC is the presence of a hypoxic tumor microenvironment, which is associated with poor prognosis, treatment resistance, increased invasion and metastasis. Recent studies have identified a number of novel molecules and pathways in PC cells that promote cancer cells progression under hypoxic conditions, which may provide new therapy strategies to inhibit the development and metastasis of PC. This review summarizes the latest research of hypoxia in PC and provides an overview of how the current therapies have the capacity to overcome hypoxia and improve PC patient treatment. These findings will eventually provide guidance for future PC management and clinical trials and hopefully improve the survival of patients with PC.