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ISSN 1001-5256 (Print)
ISSN 2097-3497 (Online)
CN 22-1108/R
Volume 42 Issue 7
Jul.  2026
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Article Contents

Risk factors for early postoperative liver metastasis in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and related mechanisms

DOI: 10.12449/JCH260735
Research funding:

National Key R&D Program of China (2022YFC2503602);

Major Joint Project of Gansu Provincial Science and Technology Department (24JRRA909);

Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province (25JRRA1003)

More Information
  • Corresponding author: Zhu Xiaoliang, zhuxiaoliang1981@163.com (ORCID: 0000-0002-5697-9583)
  • Received Date: 2025-11-27
  • Accepted Date: 2026-01-12
  • Published Date: 2026-07-25
  • Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is highly malignant and often has an extremely poor prognosis, and early postoperative liver metastasis is one of the key influencing factors for prognosis. With reference to the clinical and experimental studies in recent years, this article reviews the clinical risk factors for early liver metastasis after PDAC and systematically elaborates on major molecular events underlying early postoperative liver metastasis from various aspects of construction of the pre-metastatic niche in the liver driven by tumor-derived exosomes, the pro-metastatic microenvironment maintained by metastasis-associated macrophages and neutrophil extracellular traps, the invasive phenotype and liver-tropic migration of tumor cells, intrahepatic immunometabolic adaptation, and fibrotic remodeling, in order to provide a theoretical basis for perioperative risk stratification and the development of intervention strategies.

     

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