Future directions of neoadjuvant therapy in pancreatic cancer.

Abstract

Neoadjuvant therapy with conventional chemotherapies have visibly improved the prognosis of locally advanced pancreatic cancer (PCa). However, molecular targeted therapies that have provided durable responses in other tumor entities, have not yet found access into neoadjuvant therapy of PCa. In fact, due to the presence of the tumor burden serving as an antigen source for T cell priming, neoadjuvant chemotherapy may unleash a more potent antitumoral immune response than adjuvant or palliative chemotherapy.