Table 2.
Nuclear receptor | Expression in primary PDAC | Clinical trials and results |
PPAR (-α, -β, -γ) | PPARα: Unknown | None for PPARa and β/δ; |
PPARβ/δ: overexpressed; expression correlates with tumor stage, recurrence, and distant metastasis | PPARγ: TZD apparently reduce the risk of PDAC but PPARγ agonists do not improve survival | |
PPARg: maybe overexpressed; expression correlates with shorter overall survival | ||
RAR and RXR (-α, -β, -γ) | Yes (with the exception of RARb that is apparently lost during cancer development) | 13-cis-RA in combination with IFN-γ: prolonged stable disease as well no improvement have been reported |
AR | Yes | Phase II trials with the antagonist flutamide: increase in survival as well no effect have been reported |
ER (-α, -β) | Yes | Tamoxifen with no benefit |
NR4A1, NR4A2, NR4A3 | NR4A1: overexpressed | None |
NR4A2 and NR4A3: unknown | ||
LHR-1 | Overexpressed | None |
COUP-TFII | Overexpressed; expression correlates with shorter overall survival, tumor stage, and presence of metastasis | None |
PPAR: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor; PDAC: Pancreatic ductal carcinoma; TZD: Thiazolidinediones; IFN: Interferon; RAR: Retinoic acid receptor; RXR: Retinoid X receptor; AR: Androgen receptor; ER: Estrogen receptor; LHR-1: Liver receptor homologue-1 receptor; COUP-TFII: Chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter transcription factor II.