Regulation of metabolism in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma via nanotechnology-enabled strategies

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly fatal malignancy with insidious onset and early distal metastasis. Metabolic reprogramming, the autonomous changes in cellular bioenergetics driven by aberrant genetic events and crosstalk between cancer and non-cancer cells in the desmoplastic microenvironment, is pivotal for the rapid progression of PDAC. As an attractive therapeutic target, nucleoside metabolism is regulated by various anti-metabolic drugs for the clinical treatment of PDAC. Despite various challenges, such as poor drug delivery efficiency and off-target side effects, metabolic modification and intervention are emerging as promising strategies for PDAC therapy, enabled by the rapid development of nanotechnology-based drug delivery strate-gies. In this review, we discuss the metabolic characteristics of PDAC and highlight how the development of nanomedicine has boosted the development of new therapeutics for PDAC by modulating critical targets in metabolic reprogramming.

Automated summary

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly fatal malignancy characterized by insidious onset and early distal metastasis. Metabolic reprogramming, driven by abnormal genetic events and crosstalk between cancer and non-cancer cells in the desmoplastic microenvironment, plays a pivotal role in the rapid progression of PDAC. Despite challenges, such as poor drug delivery efficiency and off-target side effects, metabolic modification and intervention have emerged as promising strategies for PDAC therapy, facilitated by the rapid development of nanotechnology-based drug delivery strategies.