Identifying pancreatic cancer patients for targeted treatment: the challenges and limitations of the current selection process and vision for the future.

Recent preclinical data have demonstrated that pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDA) cells with defects in the Fanconi anemia/BRCA2 pathway are hypersensitive to interstrand crosslinking agents. The challenge is to efficiently identify patients who will benefit from these therapies. Patients were chosen for this study by evaluating personal history, ethnic background and family history of pancreatic malignancy.