Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly aggressive malignant tumor of the digestive tract, with a five-year survival rate of approximately 12%. Liver metastasis is a key factor affecting the long-term survival rate of PDAC patients, and current treatment strategies have shown unsatisfactory efficacy. Therefore, it is urgent to explore the mechanisms underlying the metastasis of PDAC. The tumor microenvironment (TME) is composed of various cellular components. Among them, the role of neutrophils in TME has attracted much attention. Neutrophils are polarized into tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs) in TME, and further induced to differentiate into anti-tumor subtypes (N1) and tumor-promoting subtypes (N2). Neutrophils can drive tumorigenesis and metastasis through various means such as inducing DNA damage, promoting angiogenesis, and immunosuppression. Among them, neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) play a significant role in tumor metastasis. Neutrophils in TME are heterogeneous, with different subgroups being related to the prognosis of patients. The neutrophils in pancreatic cancer liver metastases have unique characteristics. Recent studies suggest that TANs are promising targets for pancreatic cancer treatment. In this review, we summarize multiple therapy strategies that target TANs, involving various processes such as neutrophil chemotaxis, polarization, and NETs formation.
Zhu et al. (Fri,) studied this question.
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