Molecular biology of exocrine pancreatic cancer

Exocrine pancreatic cancer is one of the neoplasias with a worse prognosis, with conventional treatments having little impact on disease outcome. Research and genomic high-throughput technology is continuously expanding our knowledge of pancreas cancer biology. Characterization of genetic and epigenetic alterations in pancreatic tumors has allowed a better understanding of the progression model of the disease at the molecular level. The development of new therapeutic approaches with target- oriented agents is been tested in the preclinical and clinical settings. This review updates the current available data on pancreatic cancer molecular biology.