ORIGINAL REPORTS Current Status of Gene Therapy for Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma remains a widespread and difficult disease to treat. Surgical resection offers the possibility of cure in a select few. However, most patients are not eligible, and con-ventional chemotherapy and radiation remain largely ineffec-tive. Despite this, our understanding of the pathogenesis of the disease has advanced considerably over the past few decades. These findings provide the basis for the development of much needed new therapeutic modalities. Specifically, the application of new recombinant DNA technology and techniques to pan-creatic cancer has yielded promising results. This paper reviews our current understanding of the molecular biology of pancre-atic adenocarcinoma and its applications to the field of gen