Emerging agents for metastatic pancreatic cancer: spotlight on early phase clinical trials

Introduction Despite the recent development of new chemotherapeutic regimens and combination strategies, metastatic pancreatic cancer (mPC) still shows only a modest response to conventional cytotoxic agents. However, several novel therapeutic agents targeting the unique features of mPC are showing promise in clinical trials. Area covered This article reviews the current state of development of new agents targeting various systems and molecular pathways. We searched PubMed and clinicaltrials.gov in September 2021 with a special focus on ongoing early phase clinical trials to identify the promising therapeutic strategies for mPC. Expert opinion Extensive tumor heterogeneity, complex tumor microenvironment, genetic alterations of the oncogenic signaling pathways, metabolic dysregulation, and a low immunogenicity are hurdles for current treatment approaches. Ongoing research efforts strive to overcome these hurdles and are showing some promising early results.