Deregulation of cell cycle machinery in pancreatic cancer

Disrupted cell cycle machinery is commonly thought to result in loss of proliferative control. Standard therapies target these rapidly dividing cells, yet they are ineffective against pancreatic cancer, suggesting that its development and/or progression might deviate from standard paradigms. Supposedly essential cell cycle components are actually dispensable in mice, and accumulating evidence indicates that they play more diverse roles during apoptosis, signal transduction, and cell migration. A better understanding of how pancreatic cancer cells proliferate and the contribution of disrupted cell cycle machinery would provide much needed opportunities for developing new diagnostic and therapeutic options to improve patient outcome.