Pancreatic cancer research: challenges, opportunities, and recent developments

Advances in the scientific knowledge and medical management of pancreatic cancer are lagging behind significant discoveries in other tumors. From 2001 to 2002, the period covered by this review, few but yet important findings have continued to push this field of medicine ahead. However, the most promising advance made in pancreatic cancer is the increased awareness of this disease by private and federal agencies as well as the population at large. In addition, there has been a remarkable increase in scientific communication among different research groups around the country. National cooperation among government, philanthropic organizations, advocacy groups, and scientists offers for the first time a framework of hope regarding the establishment of a comprehensive plan to fight this dismal disease. Scientists have responded with renewed enthusiasm, which has resulted in significant advances in two exciting areas of wide interest in the field—genetic animal models and postgenomic mechanisms of pancreatic carcinogenesis. The questions that these studies address and their potential impact on this field of research are highlighted here.