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

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.

• Authors: William A Hall, Mandana Kamgar, Beth A Erickson, Sara Beltrán Ponce, Susan Tsai, Marja T Nevalainen, Kathleen K Christians, Ben George, Kulwinder S Dua, Abdul H Khan, Douglas B Evans, Asfar S Azmi
• Journal: Cancer metastasis reviews (Cancer Metastasis Rev) Vol. 40 Issue 3 Pg. 879-889 (09 2021) ISSN: 1573-7233 [Electronic] Netherlands
• PMID: 34611794 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Review)
• Copyright: © 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

Topics

• Adenocarcinoma (radiotherapy)
• Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal (radiotherapy)
• Humans
• Pancreatic Neoplasms (radiotherapy)
• Technology