Preface for Special Edition Pancreas Cancer
Dr. Zheng and I are delighted to introduce the second part of a two-part series on pancreas cancer in the Chinese Clinical Oncology Journal, which updates us on a diverse series of topics in this disease. Pancreas cancer is gaining increasing prominence due to the rising incidence and relatively intransigent mortality rates. Nonetheless, there are major improvements in our understanding of the pathophysiology, genomic underpinnings and other critical aspects of this disease.
Drs. Giuliano, Ejaz and He provide a thorough summary of the technical aspects of pancreatic surgery and the current state-of-the-art with regard to surgical innovation. Pathology colleagues from Wisconsin and Istanbul, provide a comprehensive review of pancreatic epithelial malignancies with an emphasis on differential diagnostic considerations. Chen et al. provide a focused summary of the current thinking on germline genetics of pancreas cancer with regard to predisposition and therapeutic actionability in a thoroughly referenced manuscript. Radiology colleagues from Memorial Sloan Kettering review current standards in imaging for pancreas cancer with a particular emphasis on multidisciplinary decision making as it pertains to management of the spectrum of resectable through borderline resectable and advanced disease. In a complementary article, Thomas et al. from Vancouver provide a review on risk factors, biomarkers and imaging approaches in pancreatic cancer. With regard to novel therapeutics, key topics include stromal modulation and therapeutic applications that are in mid-late stage development in this cancer, arguably an area of therapeutics which may result in newly approved therapies in the coming future. Dr. Varghese provides a timely summary on where T-cell targeted strategies stand in general, and the emerging development of CAR T approaches in pancreas cancer. The field of interventional gastroenterology continues to evolve with major applications in diagnostic, therapeutic and increasing application of novel therapy deliveries, topics which are nicely elucidated by Khokhar et al. Pancreatic cystic neoplasms have become more and more commonly identified entities and pose many clinical challenges with regard to significance, potential for malignant development and management considerations. Dr. Peter Allen succinctly addresses many of these issues in his manuscript. To round out the edition, Holt and colleagues from the National Pancreas Foundation focus us on the important world of pancreas advocacy and how the impact of such organizations influence education, research funding and clinical care in this disease.
We want to pass on our sincere thanks to all the contributing authors and we trust the audience will enjoy reading these manuscripts as much as we did. Our warmest wishes to all for the holiday season and 2018!
Acknowledgements
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