Current Status and Perspectives of Pancreatic Cancer Tumor Microenvironment and Therapy

Abstract

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is commonly known as the "king of cancers" because of its exceptionally aggressive nature and poor prognosis for patients. Moreover, the pancreas, being a retroperitoneal organ, presents a lack of specific markers, making early identification difficult. The tumor microenvironment (TME) consists of tumor cells, stromal cells, immune cells and cytokines, etc. together. Antitumor medications cannot penetrate PDAC due to its high mesenchymal component content, which also restricts immune cells to infiltrate the tumor tissue. At the same time, the TME of PDAC lacks anti-tumor immune cell infiltration and has strong immunosuppressive properties, and the components of TME play an important role in tumor growth, angiogenesis, immunosuppression, and resistance to chemotherapy and targeted drugs. In this paper, we provide an overview of the composition, biological properties and research progress of immunotherapy of TME in PDAC, in the hope of bringing new ideas for the treatment of PDAC.