Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
World J Clin Oncol. Mar 24, 2026; 17(3): 115882
Published online Mar 24, 2026. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v17.i3.115882
Published online Mar 24, 2026. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v17.i3.115882
Lactylation in pancreatic cancer: From molecular mechanisms to therapeutic perspectives
Gabriel Dickson Hawanga, Zhao-Xing Li, Mao-Xin Li, Xiu-Lei Zhang, Dao-Hai Qian, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wannan Medical College, Wuhu 241001, Anhui Province, China
Author contributions: Hawanga GD conceived the idea and designed the manuscript; Hawanga GD and Li ZX critically revised the manuscript for important intellectual content; Li MX, Zhang XL, and Qian DH collected the literature and drafted the manuscript; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflict of interest in publishing the manuscript.
Corresponding author: Dao-Hai Qian, MD, PhD, Associate Chief Physician, Associate Professor, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wannan Medical College, No. 2 Zheshan West Road, Wuhu 241001, Anhui Province, China.
Received: October 29, 2025
Revised: November 23, 2025
Accepted: January 12, 2026
Published online: March 24, 2026
Processing time: 146 Days and 18.9 Hours
Revised: November 23, 2025
Accepted: January 12, 2026
Published online: March 24, 2026
Processing time: 146 Days and 18.9 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This mini-review highlights lactylation, a lactate-derived epigenetic modification, as a pivotal mechanism linking the intense glycolytic metabolism of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma to its aggressive phenotype. We synthesize how lactylation of histones and non-histone proteins drives oncogenic transcription, chemoresistance, and immune suppression. The article critically evaluates the promise of targeting lactylation “writers” and “erasers”, lactate transporters, and metabolic enzymes for therapy, while also discussing the challenges of specificity, drug delivery, and biomarker validation that must be addressed to translate these strategies to the clinic.