Emerging roles of the solute carrier family in pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer is a gastrointestinal tumor with a high mortality rate, and advances in surgical procedures have only resulted in limited improvements in the prognosis of patients. Solute carriers (SLCs), which rank second among membrane transport proteins in terms of abundance, regulate cellular functions, including tumor biology. An increasing number of studies focusing on the role of SLCs in tumor biology have indicated their relationship with pancreatic cancer. The mechanism of SLC transporters in tumorigenesis has been explored to identify more effective therapies and improve survival outcomes. These transporters are significant biomarkers for pancreatic cancer, the functions of which include mainly proliferative signaling, cell death, angiogenesis, tumor invasion and metastasis, energy metabolism, chemotherapy sensitivity and other functions in tumor biology. In this review, we summarize the different roles of SLCs and explain their potential applications in pancreatic cancer treatment.