The Medical Advisor

Introduction Pancreatic cancer  is among the most aggressive and difficult cancers to treat, particularly in its later stages. Approaches to improve pancreatic cancer therapy are essential as this disease has a very bleak outcome. Approximately 80% of pancreatic cancers are pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAC). PDAC is a cancer which is difficult to effectively treat as it is often detected late in the disease process. Almost all PDACs (over 90%) have activating mutations in the  GTPase  gene  KRAS . Pancreatic cancer has a high mortality rate and is often resistant to conventional treatments. Standard therapeutic options include surgical resection, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and targeted therapy for pancreatic cancer with actionable mutations; yet survival rates remain low due to resistance. Recently, integrative treatment strategies have gained interest, including the repurposing of existing drugs originally developed for non-cancer indications.  Giv...