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Emerging agents for metastatic pancreatic cancer: spotlight on early phase clinical trials
1Department of Oncology/Hematology, Kyungpook National University Hospital, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
Introduction:
Despite the recent development of new chemotherapeutic regimens and combination strategies, metastatic pancreatic cancer (mPC) still shows only a modest response to conventional cytotoxic agents. However, several novel therapeutic agents targeting the unique features of mPC are showing promise in clinical trials.
Area Covered:
This article reviews the current state of development of new agents targeting various systems and molecular pathways. We searched PubMed and clinicaltrials.gov in September 2021 with a special focus on ongoing early phase clinical trials to identify the promising therapeutic strategies for mPC.
Expert Opinion:
Extensive tumor heterogeneity, complex tumor microenvironment, genetic alterations of the oncogenic signaling pathways, metabolic dysregulation, and a low immunogenicity are hurdles for current treatment approaches. Ongoing research efforts strive to overcome these hurdles and are showing some promising early results.
Insights
New therapeutic agents show promise for metastatic pancreatic cancer (mPC), offering hope beyond conventional chemotherapy. Research focuses on novel treatments to overcome challenges like tumor heterogeneity and the tumor microenvironment.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Medical Research
Background:
- Metastatic pancreatic cancer (mPC) exhibits limited response to current chemotherapy.
- Novel therapeutic agents targeting mPC's unique characteristics are emerging in clinical trials.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review novel therapeutic agents for metastatic pancreatic cancer.
- To identify promising strategies from ongoing early-phase clinical trials.
Main Methods:
- Literature search of PubMed and clinicaltrials.gov (September 2021).
- Focus on early-phase clinical trials for mPC therapeutic strategies.
Main Results:
- Several novel agents targeting unique mPC features are in clinical development.
- Early clinical trials indicate promising therapeutic strategies for mPC.
Conclusions:
- Tumor heterogeneity, microenvironment, genetic, and metabolic factors pose treatment challenges.
- Ongoing research aims to overcome these hurdles, with promising early outcomes observed.
