Molecular advances in pancreatic cancer: A genomic, proteomic and metabolomic approach

Abstract

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) represents a challenging pathology with very poor outcomes and is increasing in incidence within the general population. The majority of patients are diagnosed incidentally with insidious symptoms and hence present late in the disease process. This significantly affects patient outcomes: the only cure is surgical resection but only up to 20% of patients present with resectable disease at the time of clinical presentation. The use of “omic” technology is expanding rapidly in the field of personalised medicine - using genomic, proteomic and metabolomic approaches allows researchers and clinicians to delve deep into the core molecular processes of this difficult disease. This review gives an overview of the current findings in PDAC using these “omic” approaches and summarises useful markers in aiding clinicians treating PDAC. Future strategies incorporating these findings and potential application of these methods are presented in this review article.

Keywords: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, Pancreatic adenocarcinoma; Genomic; Proteomic; Metabolomic

Core Tip: Treatment for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is limited by the severity of the pathology, limited biomarkers and late presentation of patients. Utilising genomic, proteomic and metabolomic research into pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma has provided insight into understanding the disease process as well as providing suitable markers of diagnosis and treatment to improve clinical outcomes.