REFERENCES

1. Zeng S, Pöttler M, Lan B, Grützmann R, Pilarsky C, Yang H. Chemoresistance in pancreatic cancer. Int J Mol Sci 2019;20:4504.

2. Riker A, Libutti SK, Bartlett DL. Advances in the early detection, diagnosis, and staging of pancreatic cancer. Surgical Oncology 1997;6:157-69.

3. Swayden M, Iovanna J, Soubeyran P. Pancreatic cancer chemo-resistance is driven by tumor phenotype rather than tumor genotype. Heliyon 2018;4:e01055.

4. Li Q, Yang G, Feng M, et al. NF-κB in pancreatic cancer: its key role in chemoresistance. Cancer Lett 2018;421:127-34.

5. Coussens LM, Werb Z. Inflammation and cancer. Nature 2002;420:860-7.

6. Dudley DJ. 1 The immune system in health and disease. Baillière's Clinical Obstetrics and Gynaecology 1992;6:393-416.

7. Netti GS, Franzin R, Stasi A, et al. Role of complement in regulating inflammation processes in renal and prostate cancers. Cells 2021;10:2426.

8. Zhang R, Liu Q, Li T, Liao Q, Zhao Y. Role of the complement system in the tumor microenvironment. Cancer Cell Int 2019;19:300.

9. Merle NS, Church SE, Fremeaux-Bacchi V, Roumenina LT. Complement system part i - molecular mechanisms of activation and regulation. Front Immunol 2015;6:262.

10. Merle NS, Noe R, Halbwachs-Mecarelli L, Fremeaux-Bacchi V, Roumenina LT. Complement system part II: role in immunity. Front Immunol 2015;6:257.

11. Hanahan D, Weinberg RA. Hallmarks of cancer: the next generation. Cell 2011;144:646-74.

12. Afshar-Kharghan V. The role of the complement system in cancer. J Clin Invest 2017;127:780-9.

13. Ajona D, Ortiz-Espinosa S, Pio R. Complement anaphylatoxins C3a and C5a: emerging roles in cancer progression and treatment. Semin Cell Dev Biol 2019;85:153-63.

14. Zhu H, Yu X, Zhang S, Shu K. Targeting the complement pathway in malignant glioma microenvironments. Front Cell Dev Biol 2021;9:657472.

15. Bonavita E, Gentile S, Rubino M, et al. PTX3 is an extrinsic oncosuppressor regulating complement-dependent inflammation in cancer. Cell 2015;160:700-14.

16. Pio R, Ajona D, Lambris JD. Complement inhibition in cancer therapy. Semin Immunol 2013;25:54-64.

17. Quiñonero F, Mesas C, Doello K, et al. The challenge of drug resistance in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: a current overview. Cancer Biol Med 2019;16:688-99.

18. Zheng HC. The molecular mechanisms of chemoresistance in cancers. Oncotarget 2017;8:59950-64.

19. Randazzo O, Papini F, Mantini G, et al. “Open Sesame? Cancers (Basel) 2020;12:3206.

20. Bergman AM, Pinedo HM, Peters GJ. Determinants of resistance to 2’,2’-difluorodeoxycytidine (gemcitabine). Drug Resistance Updates 2002;5:19-33.

21. Kim J, Kim H, Lee JC, et al. Human equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 (hENT1) expression as a predictive biomarker for gemcitabine chemotherapy in biliary tract cancer. PLoS One 2018;13:e0209104.

22. Ferreira CG, Span SW, Peters GJ, Kruyt FA, Giaccone G. Chemotherapy triggers apoptosis in a caspase-8-dependent and mitochondria-controlled manner in the non-small cell lung cancer cell line NCI-H460. Cancer Res 2000;60:7133-41. Available from: https://aacrjournals.org/cancerres/article/60/24/7133/507101/Chemotherapy-Triggers-Apoptosis-in-a-Caspase-8 [Last accessed on 28 Mar 2022].

23. Pramanik KC, Makena MR, Bhowmick K, Pandey MK. Advancement of NF-κB signaling pathway: a novel target in pancreatic cancer. Int J Mol Sci 2018;19:3890.

24. Wang W, Abbruzzese JL, Evans DB, et al. .

25. Liptay S, Weber CK, Ludwig L, Wagner M, Adler G, Schmid RM. Mitogenic and antiapoptotic role of constitutive NF-kappaB/Rel activity in pancreatic cancer. Int J Cancer 2003;105:735-46.

26. Bettac L, Denk S, Seufferlein T, Huber-Lang M. Complement in pancreatic disease-perpetrator or savior? Front Immunol 2017;8:15.

27. Xia L, Tan S, Zhou Y, et al. Role of the NFκB-signaling pathway in cancer. Onco Targets Ther 2018;11:2063-73.

28. Lu N, Malemud CJ. Extracellular signal-regulated kinase: a regulator of cell growth, inflammation, chondrocyte and bone cell receptor-mediated gene expression. Int J Mol Sci 2019;20:3792.

29. Salaroglio IC, Mungo E, Gazzano E, Kopecka J, Riganti C. ERK is a pivotal player of chemo-immune-resistance in cancer. Int J Mol Sci 2019;20:2505.

30. Hung SW, Marrache S, Cummins S, et al. Defective hCNT1 transport contributes to gemcitabine chemoresistance in ovarian cancer subtypes: overcoming transport defects using a nanoparticle approach. Cancer Lett 2015;359:233-40.

31. Bentires-Alj M, Barbu V, Fillet M, et al. NF-kappaB transcription factor induces drug resistance through MDR1 expression in cancer cells. Oncogene 2003;22:90-7.

32. Organ SL, Tsao MS. An overview of the c-MET signaling pathway. Ther Adv Med Oncol 2011;3:S7-S19.

33. Ilic M, Ilic I. Epidemiology of pancreatic cancer. World J Gastroenterol 2016;22:9694-705.

34. Noguchi K, Konno M, Eguchi H, et al. c-Met affects gemcitabine resistance during carcinogenesis in a mouse model of pancreatic cancer. Oncol Lett 2018;16:1892-8.

35. Delitto D, Vertes-George E, Hughes SJ, Behrns KE, Trevino JG. c-Met signaling in the development of tumorigenesis and chemoresistance: potential applications in pancreatic cancer. World J Gastroenterol 2014;20:8458-70.

36. Chen H, Bian A, Yang LF, et al. Targeting STAT3 by a small molecule suppresses pancreatic cancer progression. Oncogene 2021;40:1440-57.

37. Rébé C, Végran F, Berger H, Ghiringhelli F. STAT3 activation: a key factor in tumor immunoescape. JAKSTAT 2013;2:e23010.

38. Yuan K, Ye J, Liu Z, et al. Complement C3 overexpression activates JAK2/STAT3 pathway and correlates with gastric cancer progression. J Exp Clin Cancer Res 2020;39:9.

39. Liu XY, Pestka S, Shi Y. Recent advances in cancer research and therapy. 1st ed. London: Elsevier Science; 2012. Available from: https://books.google.com.hk/books?hl=zh-CN&lr=&id=RaorzeM2kuYC&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Recent+advances+in+cancer+research+and+therapy&ots=PU8uf32xC6&sig=FQ7nAFZyCSqh67TGXU0QBca2QFk&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Recent%20advances%20in%20cancer%20research%20and%20therapy&f=false [Last accessed on 28 Mar 2022].

40. Valle-Mendiola A, Soto-Cruz I. Energy metabolism in cancer: the roles of STAT3 and STAT5 in the regulation of metabolism-related genes. Cancers (Basel) 2020;12:124.

41. Shih PC, Mei KC. Role of STAT3 signaling transduction pathways in cancer stem cell-associated chemoresistance. Drug Discov Today 2021;26:1450-8.

42. Liu R, Chen Y, Liu G, et al. PI3K/AKT pathway as a key link modulates the multidrug resistance of cancers. Cell Death Dis 2020;11:797.

43. Zhang Y, Yan W, Collins MA, et al. Interleukin-6 is required for pancreatic cancer progression by promoting MAPK signaling activation and oxidative stress resistance. Cancer Res 2013;73:6359-74.

44. Baer R, Cintas C, Therville N, Guillermet-Guibert J. Implication of PI3K/Akt pathway in pancreatic cancer: When PI3K isoforms matter? Adv Biol Regul 2015;59:19-35.

45. Kleczko EK, Kwak JW, Schenk EL, Nemenoff RA. Targeting the complement pathway as a therapeutic strategy in lung cancer. Front Immunol 2019;10:954.