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Updates and new directions in the use of radiation therapy for the treatment of pancreatic adenocarcinoma: dose, sensitization, and novel technology

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Abstract

Panc reatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a devastating malignancy. There have been few advances that have substantially improved overall survival in the past several years. On its current trajectory, the deaths from PDAC are expected to cross that from all gastrointestinal cancers combined by 2030. Radiation therapy is a technically very complex modality that bridges multiple different treatment strategies. It represents a hybrid among advanced diagnostic imaging, local (often ablative) intervention, and heterogeneous biological mechanisms contributing to normal and oncologic cell kill. In this article, we bring an overview of the several promising strategies that are currently being investigated to improve outcomes using radiation therapy for patients with PDAC.

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Funding

The project was supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Award Number KL2TR001438. The content is solely the responsibility of the author(s) and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. Work in the lab of Asfar S. Azmi is supported by NCI R37CA215427 and NCI R01CA240607 grants.

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  1. William A. Hall and Mandana Kamgar contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiation Oncology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    William A. Hall, Beth A. Erickson & Sara Beltrán Ponce

  2. Department of Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    William A. Hall, Mandana Kamgar, Beth A. Erickson, Susan Tsai, Kathleen K. Christians & Douglas B. Evans

  3. LaBahn Pancreatic Cancer Program at the Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    William A. Hall, Mandana Kamgar, Beth A. Erickson, Susan Tsai, Kathleen K. Christians, Ben George, Kulwinder S. Dua, Abdul H. Khan & Douglas B. Evans

  4. Division of Medical Oncology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    Mandana Kamgar & Ben George

  5. Department of Pathology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    Marja T. Nevalainen

  6. Division of Gastroenterology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    Kulwinder S. Dua & Abdul H. Khan

  7. Department of Oncology, Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA

    Asfar S. Azmi

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The Department of Radiation Oncology at MCW receives research and travel support from Elekta AB, Stockholm, Sweden.

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Hall, W.A., Kamgar, M., Erickson, B.A. et al. Updates and new directions in the use of radiation therapy for the treatment of pancreatic adenocarcinoma: dose, sensitization, and novel technology. Cancer Metastasis Rev 40, 879–889 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10555-021-09993-z

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