Pancreatic Neoplasms and Autophagy

Pancreatic cancer is predicted to be the second deadliest malignancy (a median survival of 4-6 months and a 5-year survival of less than 5%) in the USA by 2020. Although current medical detection technologies have dramatically improved the survival rate for patients with other gastrointestinal malignancies, the dismal clinical outcome remains somewhat unchanged for patients with pancreatic cancer. Preclinical evidence suggests that pancreatic cancer may be benefited from early administration of systemic therapy in addition to surgery. New biomarkers should help to identify those patients possibly candidates for various systemic therapy including chemotherapy. Classical anticancer drugs such as FOLFIRINOX (folinic acid, 5-fluorouracil, irinotecan, and oxaliplatin), and nabpaclitaxel plus gemcitabine only produced some modest improvements in survival. To this end, novel therapeutic avenues are sought for pancreatic cancer. This mini-review summarizes the state-of-the-art of pancreatic cancer treatment, and possible role of autophagy in therapeutics against pancreatic cancer.