Morphologic and Molecular Landscape of Pancreatic Cancer Variants as the Basis of New Therapeutic Strategies for Precision Oncology

To date, pancreatic cancer is still one of the most lethal cancers in the world, mainly due to the lack of early diagnosis and personalized treatment strategies. In this context, the possibility and the opportunity of identifying genetic and molecular biomarkers are crucial to improve the feasibilit...

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Published in:International journal of molecular sciences 2020-11, Vol.21 (22), p.8841
Main Authors: Bazzichetto, Chiara, Luchini, Claudio, Conciatori, Fabiana, Vaccaro, Vanja, Di Cello, Ilaria, Mattiolo, Paola, Falcone, Italia, Ferretti, Gianluigi, Scarpa, Aldo, Cognetti, Francesco, Milella, Michele
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal - classification
Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal - genetics
Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal - pathology
Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal - therapy
Genomics
Germ-Line Mutation
Humans
Mutation
Neoplasm Proteins - genetics
Pancreatic Neoplasms - classification
Pancreatic Neoplasms - genetics
Pancreatic Neoplasms - pathology
Pancreatic Neoplasms - therapy
Precision Medicine
Review
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Summary:To date, pancreatic cancer is still one of the most lethal cancers in the world, mainly due to the lack of early diagnosis and personalized treatment strategies. In this context, the possibility and the opportunity of identifying genetic and molecular biomarkers are crucial to improve the feasibility of precision medicine. In 2019, the World Health Organization classified pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cancer (the most common pancreatic tumor type) into eight variants, according to specific histomorphological features. They are: colloid carcinoma, medullary carcinoma, adenosquamous carcinoma, undifferentiated carcinoma, including also rhabdoid carcinoma, undifferentiated carcinoma with osteoclast-like giant cells, hepatoid carcinoma, and signet-ring/poorly cohesive cells carcinoma. Interestingly, despite the very low incidence of these variants, innovative high throughput genomic/transcriptomic techniques allowed the investigation of both somatic and germline mutations in each specific variant, paving the way for their possible classification according also to specific alterations, along with the canonical mutations of pancreatic cancer ( , , , ). In this review, we aim to report the current evidence about genetic/molecular profiles of pancreatic cancer variants, highlighting their role in therapeutic and clinical impact.
ISSN:1422-0067
1422-0067
DOI:10.3390/ijms21228841