Abstract

Pancreatic cancer has high incidence and mortality rates, and effective treatment remains a clinical challenge. As deregulation of the cytokine transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) contributes to the progression of pancreatic carcinoma, the TGF-β pathway has been targeted using various strategies, including small molecule inhibitors of TGF-βRI, TGF-β-specific neutralizing antibodies and antisense compounds. As increased TGF-β2 levels in serum or tumor tissue of patients with pancreatic cancer correlated with poor prognosis, inhibition of TGF-β2 synthesis via the antisense oligonucleotide trabedersen (AP 12009) is a promising approach.

Keywords: Pancreatic cancer, transforming growth factor beta, tumor microenvironment, immunosuppression, targeted therapies, trabedersen (AP 12009), small molecule inhibitors of TGF-βRI, tumor tissue, antisense compounds, pancreatic adenocarcinoma carries, epithelial cells, antitumoral immune response, growth factors, unique microenvironment harbors, chronic pancreatitis tissue