Figure 1.

Graphical illustration of pancreatic tumour microenvironment. (A) Primary pancreatic tumour. (B) Enlarged pancreatic tumour environment: The cancerous cell cytokines induce the production of fibroblasts and stellate cells, leading to the build-up of the dense stroma compartment. The hostile dense and stromal structure increases intra-tumoral pressure, causing the hypo-vascularization or the collapse of blood vessels surrounding tumours. Due to the lack of a cancerous blood vessel matrix, EPR effects cannot be utilised efficiently for the delivery of systemic therapeutics.