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New Treatment Strategies for Metastatic Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

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Abstract

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is typically diagnosed at an advanced stage, with systemic therapy being the mainstay of treatment. Survival continues to be limited, typically less than 1 year. The PDAC microenvironment is characterized by a paucity of malignant epithelial cells, abundant stroma with predominantly immunosuppressive T cells and myelosuppressive-type macrophages (M2), and hypovascularity. The current treatment options for metastatic PDAC are modified (m)FOLFIRINOX /FOLFIRINOX or nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine in patients with good performance status (PS) (ECOG 0-1/KPS 70-100%) and gemcitabine with or without a second agent for those with ECOG PS 2-3. New therapies are emerging, and the current guidelines endorse both germline and somatic testing in PDAC to evaluate actionable findings. Important themes related to new therapeutic approaches include DNA damage repair strategies, immunotherapy, targeting the stroma, and cancer-cell metabolism. Targeted therapy alone (outside small genomically defined subsets) or in combination with standard cytotoxic therapy, thus far, has proven disappointing in PDAC; however, novel therapies are evolving with increased integration of genomic profiling along with a better understanding of the tumor microenvironment and immunology. A small but important sub-group of patients have some of these agents available in the clinics for use. Olaparib was recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for maintenance therapy in germline BRCA1/2 mutated PDAC following demonstration of survival benefit in a phase 3 trial. Pembrolizumab is approved for patients with defects in mismatch repair/microsatellite instability. PDAC with wild-type KRAS represents a unique subgroup who have enrichment of potentially targetable oncogenic drivers. Small-molecule inhibitors including ERBB inhibitors (e.g., afatinib, MCLA-128), TRK inhibitors (e.g., larotrectinib, entrectinib), ALK/ROS inhibitor (e.g., crizotinib), and BRAF/MEK inhibitors are in development. In a small subset of patients with the KRASG12C mutation, a KRASG12C inhibitor, AMG510, and other agents are being investigated. Major efforts are underway to effectively target the tumor microenvironment and to integrate immunotherapy into the treatment of PDAC, and although thus far the impact has been modest to ineffective, nonetheless, there is optimism that some of the challenges will be overcome.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai St. Luke’s and Mount Sinai West, New York, NY, 10019, USA

    Ritu Raj Singh

  2. Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, 10065, USA

    Eileen M. O’Reilly

  3. Weill Cornell Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, 10065, USA

    Eileen M. O’Reilly

  4. David M. Rubenstein Center for Pancreatic Cancer, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, 10065, USA

    Eileen M. O’Reilly

Authors
  1. Ritu Raj Singh
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  2. Eileen M. O’Reilly
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eileen M. O’Reilly.

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Funding

David M. Rubenstein Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research; Cancer Center Support Grant P30 CA 008748.

Conflict of interest

Ritu Raj Singh declares no conflicts of interest that might be relevant to the contents of this article. Eileen M. O’Reilly: Research funding to MSK: Genentech, Roche, Celgene/BMS, MabVax Therapeutics, ActaBiologica, AstraZeneca, Silenseed; Consulting/Advisory: BioLineRx, Targovax, Celgene, Polaris, Sobi, Merck, Ipsen; Data Safety Monitoring Boards: CytomX Therapeutics, Rafael.

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Singh, R.R., O’Reilly, E.M. New Treatment Strategies for Metastatic Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma. Drugs 80, 647–669 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40265-020-01304-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40265-020-01304-0

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