Metabolic Pathways as a Novel Landscape in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Metabolism plays a fundamental role in both human physiology and pathology, includingpancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and other tumors. Anabolic and catabolic processes donot only have energetic implications but are tightly associated with other cellular activities, such asDNA duplication, redox reactions, and cell homeostasis. PDAC displays a marked metabolic phenotypeand the observed reduction in tumor growth induced by calorie restriction with in vivomodels supports the crucial role of metabolism in this cancer type. The aggressiveness of PDACmight, therefore, be reduced by interventions on bioenergetic circuits. In this review, we describethe main metabolic mechanisms involved in PDAC growth and the biological features that mayfavor its onset and progression within an immunometabolic context. We also discuss the need tobridge the gap between basic research and clinical practice in order to offer alternative therapeuticapproaches for PDAC patients in the more immediate future.