Yan X, Xu HY, Liu JW, Yang ZY, Zhu Q. Integration of pathomics and single-cell omics in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: Applications and clinical translation prospects. World J Clin Oncol 2026; 17(5): 119864 [DOI: 10.5306/wjco.v17.i5.119864]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Qian Zhu, PhD, Professor, Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, No. 169 East Lake Road, Wuchang District, Wuhan 430071, Hubei Province, China. zhuqian@whu.edu.cn
Research Domain of This Article
Oncology
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
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Yan X, Xu HY, Liu JW, Yang ZY, Zhu Q. Integration of pathomics and single-cell omics in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: Applications and clinical translation prospects. World J Clin Oncol 2026; 17(5): 119864 [DOI: 10.5306/wjco.v17.i5.119864]
Xin Yan, Zhi-Yong Yang, Qian Zhu, Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, Hubei Province, China
Xin Yan, Hong-Yu Xu, Jia-Wu Liu, School of Medicine, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, Hubei Province, China
Zhi-Yong Yang, Qian Zhu, Clinical Medicine Research Center for Minimally Invasive Procedure of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Diseases of Hubei Province, Hubei Provincial Department of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430071, Hubei Province, China
Co-first authors: Xin Yan and Hong-Yu Xu.
Co-corresponding authors: Zhi-Yong Yang and Qian Zhu.
Author contributions: Yan X and Xu HY contributed equally to this work as co-first authors; Yan X, Xu HY, and Liu JW curated the data; Yan X, Xu HY, Yang ZY, and Zhu Q analyzed and visualized the data; Yang ZY and Zhu Q contributed equally to this work as co-corresponding authors. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
AI contribution statement: Grammarly was used for language polishing and grammar revision only. No AI tool participated in the conceptualization, literature selection, synthesis of cited findings, or formulation of critical discussions. All review planning, thematic structuring, and analytical conclusions were performed exclusively by the authors.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Corresponding author: Qian Zhu, PhD, Professor, Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, No. 169 East Lake Road, Wuchang District, Wuhan 430071, Hubei Province, China. zhuqian@whu.edu.cn
Received: February 9, 2026 Revised: February 17, 2026 Accepted: March 16, 2026 Published online: May 24, 2026 Processing time: 101 Days and 18.2 Hours
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the predominant pathological subtype of pancreatic cancer, presents significant challenges in early diagnosis and treatment due to its high degree of heterogeneity. The emergence of single-cell omics and pathomics are providing powerful new tools and insights that are advancing PDAC research. Single-cell omics elucidates the molecular profiles of malignant epithelial cells, immune cells, and stromal cells within the PDAC tumor microenvironment, uncovering key pathways and cellular subpopulations that drive PDAC progression and drug resistance. In contrast, pathomics quantitatively extracts subtle morphological features from digitized whole-slide images, employing machine and deep learning to build diagnostic and prognostic prediction models. The multi-omics integration based on single-cell and pathology data provides deeper insights into tumor microenvironment. This integrated approach not only enables the prediction of molecular subtypes and immune status from routine hematoxylin and eosin-stained images, providing a low-cost and rapid auxiliary diagnostic tool for clinical practice, but also accurately identifies therapeutic targets, predicts drug responses, and screens potential beneficiaries for immunotherapy. This minireview aims to dissect PDAC from a multi-omics perspective, with the objectives of fostering greater integration and exploration across these fields and thereby deepening the molecular and spatial understanding of PDAC and laying the groundwork for future precision medicine approaches.
Core Tip: This minireview systematically summarizes the progress of single-cell omics and pathomics in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) research. Single-cell omics provides deep insights into the cellular heterogeneity, tumor microenvironment, and drug-resistance mechanisms of PDAC. Pathomics employs artificial intelligence to quantitatively analyze histopathological images, enabling automated diagnosis, molecular subtyping, and prognostic evaluation. The integration of these two approaches constructs a multidimensional “morphological-molecular-spatial” perspective, which significantly advances the precision management of PDAC. Future work should focus on standardizing multi-omics techniques, building interpretable models, and promoting clinical translation to address the current therapeutic challenges in PDAC.
