ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates the integrated physical oncology approach through applications to pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). It discusses the clinical management and outcome of PDAC. The chapter shows that how identify imaging-based physical markers as surrogates for molecular biomarkers, and develop mathematical models based on those physical markers for predicting treatment outcome. It also discusses these treatment strategies in the context of physical stratification methods. The chapter addresses the lack of useful biomarkers for PDAC by focusing on the physical properties of PDAC. It analyzes some of the major components and pathways related to the extracellular matrix (ECM) that are currently under investigation for PDAC and explains how these may be quantified in terms of their physical properties, and these properties may in turn be useful for the selection of patients for therapeutic strategies that target the stroma. Vaccination-based immunotherapy has been investigated as well.
