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Pancreatic cancer stem cell biology and its therapeutic implications

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Abstract

Pancreatic cancer remains one of the most difficult malignancies to treat. Significant developments in our understanding of pancreatic cancer biology have occurred over the past decade. One of the key advances has been the formulation of the cancer stem cell model of tumor growth and subsequent experimental proof of pancreatic cancer stem cell existence. Cancer stem cells contribute to pancreatic tumor growth and progression and are at least partially responsible for the relative resistance of the tumor to systemic chemotherapy and radiation. Significant questions remain about how the mutational profile of the tumor, the tumor microenvironment, and normal pancreatic developmental pathways contribute to pancreatic cancer stem cell biology. Answers to these questions will likely yield new therapeutic approaches for this deadly disease.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to express their gratitude to the Japanese Society of Gastroenterology for the opportunity to publish this work. Our work was supported by funding from the Department of Defense, the American College of Surgeons, the Lustgarten Foundation, the Pardee Foundation, the Program for Organogenesis at the University of Michigan, and from the Randy Pausch Family AACR-Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Innovation Award.

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  1. Departments of Surgery and Physiology TC 2210B, Box 5343, University of Michigan Medical Center, 1500 E. Medical Center Dr., Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Filip Bednar & Diane M. Simeone

  2. Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology TC 2210B, Box 5343, University of Michigan Medical Center, 1500 E. Medical Center Dr., Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Diane M. Simeone

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  1. Filip Bednar
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Correspondence to Diane M. Simeone.

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Bednar, F., Simeone, D.M. Pancreatic cancer stem cell biology and its therapeutic implications. J Gastroenterol 46, 1345–1352 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00535-011-0494-7

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