Pancreatic cancer cell and gene biotherapies; past, present and future

Solid cancers remain a major health challenge in terms of research, not only due to their structure and organisation but also in the molecular and genetic variations present between tumours as well as within the same tumour. When adding on the tumour microenvironment with cancer-associated cells, vasculature and the body’s immune response (or lack of), the weapons used to tackle this disease must also be diverse and intricate. Developing gene-based therapies against tumours contributes to the diverse lines of attack already established for cancers and can potentially overcome certain obstacles encountered with these strategies, the lack of tumour selectivity with chemotherapies for example. Given the high mortality and relapse rate associated with pancreatic cancer, novel treatments including gene therapy are actively being investigated. Even though no gene therapies for Pancreatic cancer are currently on the market, a significant amount of clinical trials are underway especially in active and recruiting or recently completed phases.