Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma: Unveiling Pathogenic Mechanisms and Pioneering Novel Therapeutic Strategies
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Oncology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2026 | Viewed by 5
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Over the last five years, the incidence of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma has continued to rise globally. Despite intensified efforts in early detection and new therapies development, 5-year survival has improved only marginally, and diagnosis remains predominantly late, with about 80% of patients presenting with locally advanced or metastatic disease. With no approved targeted therapy for the dominant KRAS driver and immune-checkpoint blockade largely ineffective, chemotherapy remains the standard of care for most patients. Yet marked intratumoral heterogeneity, lineage plasticity, and metabolic rewiring, including autophagy and nutrient scavenging, limit durable benefit. A uniquely hostile, desmoplastic microenvironment dominated by cancer-associated fibroblasts and myeloid cells hinders drug delivery, excludes effector T cells, and provides metabolic support, contributing to immune evasion and rapid resistance. Recent advances, including single-cell and spatial multi-omics and patient-derived organoid and co-culture models, are deepening our understanding of the mechanisms that sustain PDAC fitness and exposing vulnerabilities. This Special Issue welcomes mechanistic and translational studies that bridge biology to therapy: original work uncovering metabolic and epigenetic adaptations, drug-tolerant persister states, dissection of tumor–stroma–immune interactions and the development of biomarkers for early detection and treatment response. Reviews synthesizing recent progress and outlining priorities for clinical translation are also encouraged.
Dr. Elena Astanina
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
- tumor microenvironment
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