Pancreatic Cancer: Progress and Challenges in a Rapidly Moving Field

"Pancreatic Cancer: Advances in Science and Clinical Care," a Special Conference of the American Association for Cancer Research, was held in Orlando, FL, on May 12 to 15, bringing together more than 450 basic, translational, clinical, and epidemiologic pancreatic cancer researchers as well as pancreatic cancer patients, survivors, and advocates. Pancreatic cancer remains one of the great challenges in medicine, but the accelerating pace of research and early hints of clinical successes to come were palpable throughout the meeting. Prominent meeting themes included immunology and the tumor microenvironment, heterogeneity of both the epithelial and stromal compartments, personalized medicine efforts to integrate molecular information into clinical practice, new approaches to early detection, and clinical trials using a host of novel targeted therapies. Adding to the vibrant atmosphere of the meeting, a coalition of pancreatic cancer research and support foundations participated, with several innovative initiatives announced by individual organizations. We present here a summary of meeting highlights, a series of "success factors" that will benchmark the progress of the field over the next 2 years, and three challenges to the pancreatic cancer research community as it moves toward to the goal of extending patient survival. Cancer Res; 77(5); 1060-2. ©2017 AACR.