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Review
. 2018 Jan 5;17(1):2.
doi: 10.1186/s12943-017-0755-z.

Extracellular vesicles as mediators of the progression and chemoresistance of pancreatic cancer and their potential clinical applications

Jiangdong Qiu  1 , Gang Yang  1 , Mengyu Feng  1 , Suli Zheng  1 , Zhe Cao  1 , Lei You  1 , Lianfang Zheng  2 , Taiping Zhang  3   4 , Yupei Zhao  5
Affiliations
Review

Extracellular vesicles as mediators of the progression and chemoresistance of pancreatic cancer and their potential clinical applications

Jiangdong Qiu et al. Mol Cancer. .

Abstract

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal cancers worldwide due to its insidious symptoms, early metastasis, and chemoresistance. Hence, the underlying mechanisms contributing to pancreatic cancer progression require further exploration. Based on accumulating evidence, extracellular vesicles, including exosomes and microvesicles, play a crucial role in pancreatic cancer progression and chemoresistance. Furthermore, they also possess the potential to be promising biomarkers, therapy targets and tools for treating pancreatic cancer. Therefore, in-depth studies on the role of extracellular vesicles in pancreatic cancer are meaningful. In this review, we focus on the regulatory effects of extracellular vesicles on pancreatic cancer progression, metastasis, cancer-related immunity and chemoresistance, particularly their potential roles as biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

Keywords: Chemoresistance; Clinical applications; Extracellular vesicles; Pancreatic cancer.

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Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The functions of EVs in PC. The regulatory effects of EVs on cell proliferation, metastasis, and tumor-associated immunity are shown
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The functions of EVs in PC therapeutic intervention. The potential applications of EVs with different origins in PC therapeutic interventions are shown
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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