Chemokines: new, key players in the pathobiology of pancreatic cancer.

The chemokines are a family of peptide hormones that regulate cellular adhesion, migration, proliferation, and survival. Accumulating evidence indicates critical regulatory roles for chemokines during the development of hyperplasias and metastatic tumors. Chemokines promote tumor metastasis, growth, survival, and angiogenesis. In addition, by regulating immunity, chemokines critically regulate anti-tumor immune responses and chronic inflammation such as that associated with various neoplasias. Since chemokine receptors are G-protein coupled receptors that are ideal drug targets, these discoveries presage the development of new and potent anti-cancer drugs that target chemokine receptors. Here, I review the chemokine system and chemokine regulation of neoplasias, with a special emphasis on pancreatic cancer.