The incidence of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is steadily increasing and the annual death-to-incidence ratio approaches one. This is a figure that has not changed for several decades. Surgery remains the only chance of cure; however, only less than 20% of patients are amenable to operative resection. Despite successful surgical resection, the majority of the patients still succumb to recurrent metastatic disease. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop novel therapeutic strategies and to better select patients for current therapies. In this review, we will discuss current management by highlighting the landmark clinical trials that have shaped current care. We will then discuss the challenges of therapeutic development using the current randomized-controlled trial paradigm when confronted with the molecular heterogeneity of PDAC. Finally, we will discuss strategies that may help to shape the management of PDAC in the near future.
Keywords: genomics; next-generation sequencing; pancreatic cancer; stratified medicine; translational medicine.
© 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.