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Review
. 2020 Dec;39(4):1223-1243.
doi: 10.1007/s10555-020-09924-4. Epub 2020 Aug 11.

Molecular mediators of peritoneal metastasis in pancreatic cancer

Leela Rani Avula  1 , Brendan Hagerty  1   2 , Christine Alewine  3
Affiliations
Review

Molecular mediators of peritoneal metastasis in pancreatic cancer

Leela Rani Avula et al. Cancer Metastasis Rev. 2020 Dec.

Abstract

Pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in the USA, and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) constitutes 85% of pancreatic cancer diagnoses. PDA frequently metastasizes to the peritoneum, but effective treatment of peritoneal metastasis remains a clinical challenge. Despite this unmet need, understanding of the biological mechanisms that contribute to development and progression of PDA peritoneal metastasis is sparse. By contrast, a vast number of studies have investigated mechanisms of peritoneal metastasis in ovarian and gastric cancers. Here, we contrast similarities and differences between peritoneal metastasis in PDA as compared with those in gastric and ovarian cancer by outlining molecular mediators involved in each step of the peritoneal metastasis cascade. This review aims to provide mechanistic insights that could be translated into effective targeted therapies for patients with peritoneal metastasis from PDA.

Keywords: Gastric cancer; Ovarian cancer; Pancreatic adenocarcinoma; Peritoneal metastasis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The metastatic cascade of peritoneal metastasis showing the major molecular factors involved in each step of the cascade. Molecules bolded indicate the ones investigated and playing a role in PDA peritoneal metastasis
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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