Abstract
BACKGROUND: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), with a mortality rate of 94% and a 5-year-survival rate of only 8%, is one of the deadliest cancer entities worldwide, and early diagnostic methods as well as effective therapies are urgently needed. SUMMARY: This review summarizes current clinical procedure and recent developments of oncological therapy in the palliative setting of metastatic PDAC. It further gives examples of successful, as well as failed, targeted therapy approaches and finally discusses promising ongoing research into the decade-old question of the "undruggability" of KRAS. KEY MESSAGES: Bench-driven concepts change the clinical landscape from "one size fits all" towards precision medicine. With growing insight into the molecular mechanisms of pancreatic cancer the era of targeted therapy in PDAC is gaining a new momentum.