{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,24]],"date-time":"2026-08-24T23:28:37Z","timestamp":1787614117749,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":136,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"13","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]],"date-time":"2026-06-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782259200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100015825","name":"Korea University Anam Hospital","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["O2600351"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["O2600351"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100015825","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100015825","name":"Korea University Anam Hospital","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["O2515541"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["O2515541"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100015825","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["O2600351"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["O2600351"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04gjj3027","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["O2515541"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["O2515541"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04gjj3027","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains among the most therapeutically intractable malignancies, with a 5-year survival rate of approximately 10% and near-universal resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy. This refractoriness arises from the convergence of pronounced intratumoral heterogeneity (ITH) and a profoundly immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME), which together configure PDAC as a prototypical immune-excluded tumor. Beyond low tumor mutational burden, PDAC exhibits layered genetic, epigenetic, transcriptional, and metabolic heterogeneity that enables rapid adaptation and immune evasion under selective pressure, while dense desmoplastic stroma, cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), and immunosuppressive immune populations collectively impose formidable physical and immunologic barriers to antitumor immunity. In this review, we synthesize multi-omics, spatial transcriptomic, and immunologic evidence to elucidate how ITH and the TME dynamically interact to reinforce immune resistance. We examine reciprocal crosstalk mechanisms\u2014including immune-driven clonal selection, interclonal cooperation, metabolic niche specialization, and metabolic\u2013epigenetic coupling\u2014and discuss emerging platforms such as single-cell spatial omics, patient-derived organoid immune co-culture systems, and longitudinal circulating tumor DNA monitoring that enable high-resolution mapping of ITH\u2013TME dynamics. Finally, we evaluate ITH\u2013TME-guided combination therapeutic strategies targeting oncogenic drivers, stromal architecture, myeloid suppression, and metabolic checkpoints, and propose a prioritized framework for near-term and speculative clinical translation in PDAC.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms27135682","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]],"date-time":"2026-06-24T07:57:24Z","timestamp":1782287844000},"page":"5682","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Intra-Tumor Heterogeneity of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC)\u2014Microenvironmental Interaction and Precision Immunotherapy Strategies: A Multi-Omics-Based Integrated Perspective"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"27","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-1546-3080","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Boyeon","family":"Kim","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"Cancer Institute, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0580-5022","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jee-Hyung","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Organoid Research & Development, Korea University Anam Hospital, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"Center for Innovative Drug Discovery, Korea University Anam Hospital, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"Advanced Medical Imaging Institute, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"17","article-title":"Cancer statistics, 2023","volume":"73","author":"Siegel","year":"2023","journal-title":"CA Cancer J. 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