Pancreatic cancer pathophysiology

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Parminder Dhingra, M.D. [2]

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The most common form of pancreatic cancer (adenocarcinoma) is typically characterized by moderately to poorly differentiated glandular structures on microscopic examination. There is typically considerable desmoplasia or formation of a dense fibrous stroma or structural tissue consisting of a range of cell types (including myofibroblasts, macrophages, lymphocytes and mast cells) and deposited material (such as type I collagen and hyaluronic acid). This creates a tumor microenvironment that is short of blood vessels (hypovascular) and so of oxygen (tumor hypoxia).