Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal diseases among solid malignancies. Most patients are diagnosed in the late stage or after metastasis. Notably, pancreatic cancer is resistant to chemotherapy and lacks efficient target therapy methods. Given that, investigating the mechanism of metastasis, finding biomarkers for early detection and identifying novel therapeutic target of pancreatic cancer are needed. Exosomes, which are one type of extracellular vesicules, play an important role in intercellular communication. It has been confirmed that exosomes can be released by all types of cells and are significantly associated with multifaceted cancer, including pancreatic cancer. It has been suggested that they correlate with biogenesis, progression, metastasis, and tumor immunity in pancreatic cancer. Meanwhile, exosomes have the potential to be non-invasive biomarkers for early detection of pancreatic cancer. In this review, we retrospectively assess the discovery and evolvement of exosomes and highlight the multiple roles of exosomes in pancreatic cancer. Exosomes, as intercellular messengers, are projected to be a novel strategy for early detection and targeted therapy in pancreatic cancer.
Keywords: Exosomes; biomarker; early detection of cancer; pancreatic cancer; targeted therapy.
© 2019 by the Association of Clinical Scientists, Inc.