Abstract
Pancreatic cancer is among the deadliest of all human cancers and remains incurable. There is an urgent need for the identification of specific diagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers with hopes that such markers could be targeted in the development of novel therapeutics for better treatment of pancreatic cancer. The concept that extracellular transport can be mediated by vesicular structure especially exosome was brought to the scientific community in the 1980s; however, it was only in the last 10 years that the field of exosome biology has gained momentum. The surge in research interest was supported by the realization that these vesicular structure can participate in several important cellular processes, and in cancer, these small vesicles are emerging to be recognized as powerful modulators of most of the well-known cancer hallmarks. Exosomes serve as important vehicle for delivering cargo containing proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. They have been shown to mediate intercellular communication between different cell types in the body, and thus affecting the functioning of normal homeostasis as well as the functioning of different pathological conditions. This brief editorial touches upon some of the complex but expanding role of exosomal cargo in mediating the biology of pancreatic cancer. Some perspective is provided as to how the field of pancreatic cancer in the context of exosome is taking shape with the hope to bring forward successful clinical applications of exosome in guiding advancement for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.
Highlights
Pancreatic cancer remains a deadly disease that kills approximately 40,000 Americans each year making it the fourth leading cause of cancer related deaths in the United States [1]
There is an urgent need for the identification of early diagnostic biomarkers and novel therapies in order to positively impact the dismal statistics associated with pancreatic cancer
Adamczyk et al later characterized the released EGFR from pancreatic cancer cells which provided support for the concept that the receptor signaling could be under the influence of exosomal cargo [33]
Summary
Pancreatic cancer remains a deadly disease that kills approximately 40,000 Americans each year making it the fourth leading cause of cancer related deaths in the United States [1]. A number of important characteristics has been discovered which makes exosomes as ideal carrier of messages for different purposes such as diagnostics [8], understanding their role in inherent drug resistance [9], its role in tumor aggressiveness [10], in sustaining the cancer associated microenvironment [11] and in the exploration for developing therapeutics against cancer [12] They are actively secreted by live cells including tumor cells, and secondly their content reflects the originating tumor state and its microenvironment. In regards to the contents, exosomal membrane has been shown to harbor, lipids, immunoglobulins, MHC complex, polysaccharides among other important biological macromolecules [13] It is their payload, i.e., cargo that has been touted to have immense potential to influence the cellular microenvironment. Exosomes have been shown to guide the export of major cancer regulatory proteins and transcription factors to the outer-cellular
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