Nanoparticle-based therapeutic strategies targeting major clinical challenges in pancreatic cancer treatment

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the deadliest cancers due to its aggressiveness and the challenges for early diagnosis and treatment. Recently, nanotechnology has demonstrated relevant strategies to overcome some of the major clinical issues in the treatment of PDAC. This review is focused on the pathological hallmarks of PDAC and the impact of nanotechnology to find solutions. It describes the use of nanoparticle-based systems designed for the delivery of chemotherapeutic agents and combinatorial alternatives that address the chemoresistance associated with PDAC, the development of combination therapies targeting the molecular heterogeneity in PDAC, the investigation of novel therapies dealing with the improvement of immunotherapy and handling the desmoplastic stroma in PDAC by remodeling the tumor microenvironment. A special section is dedicated to the design of nanoparticles for unique non-traditional modalities that could be promising in the future for the improvement in the dismal prognosis of PDAC.

Automated summary

This article focuses on the pathological hallmarks of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and the impact of nanotechnology in finding solutions for its treatment. It discusses the use of nanoparticle-based systems for delivering chemotherapeutic agents, overcoming chemoresistance, targeting molecular heterogeneity, improving immunotherapy, and remodeling the tumor microenvironment. A special section is dedicated to the design of non-traditional nanoparticle modalities that may hold promise for improving the dismal prognosis of PDAC.