Mirage or long-awaited oasis: reinvigorating T-cell responses in pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is plagued by a dismal 5-year survival rate, early onset of metastasis and limited efficacy of systemic therapies. This scenario highlights the need to fervently pursue novel therapeutic strategies to treat this disease. Recent research has uncovered complicat...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gregory B Lesinski, Bassel F El-Rayes, Michael Brandon Ware
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2020-10-01
Series:Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer
Online Access:https://jitc.bmj.com/content/8/2/e001100.full
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850194627876880384
author Gregory B Lesinski
Bassel F El-Rayes
Michael Brandon Ware
author_facet Gregory B Lesinski
Bassel F El-Rayes
Michael Brandon Ware
author_sort Gregory B Lesinski
collection DOAJ
description Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is plagued by a dismal 5-year survival rate, early onset of metastasis and limited efficacy of systemic therapies. This scenario highlights the need to fervently pursue novel therapeutic strategies to treat this disease. Recent research has uncovered complicated dynamics within the tumor microenvironment (TME) of PDAC. An abundant stroma provides a framework for interactions between cancer-associated fibroblasts, suppressive myeloid cells and regulatory lymphocytes, which together create an inhospitable environment for adaptive immune responses. This accounts for the poor infiltration and exhausted phenotypes of effector T cells within pancreatic tumors. Innovative studies in genetically engineered mouse models have established that with appropriate pharmacological modulation of suppressive elements in the TME, T cells can be prompted to regress pancreatic tumors. In light of this knowledge, innovative combinatorial strategies involving immunotherapy and targeted therapies working in concert are rapidly emerging. This review will highlight recent advances in the field related to immune suppression in PDAC, emerging preclinical data and rationale for ongoing immunotherapy clinical trials. In particular, we draw attention to foundational findings involving T-cell activity in PDAC and encourage development of novel therapeutics to improve T-cell responses in this challenging disease.
format Article
id doaj-art-a3e632be96e54b3ba4ebfcfc5408ed7d
institution OA Journals
issn 2051-1426
language English
publishDate 2020-10-01
publisher BMJ Publishing Group
record_format Article
series Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer
spelling doaj-art-a3e632be96e54b3ba4ebfcfc5408ed7d2025-08-20T02:13:56ZengBMJ Publishing GroupJournal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer2051-14262020-10-018210.1136/jitc-2020-001100Mirage or long-awaited oasis: reinvigorating T-cell responses in pancreatic cancerGregory B Lesinski0Bassel F El-Rayes1Michael Brandon Ware2Hematology and Oncology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USADivision of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham Heersink School of Medicine, Birmingham, Alabama, USAHematology and Oncology, Emory University Winship Cancer Institute, Atlanta, Georgia, USAPancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is plagued by a dismal 5-year survival rate, early onset of metastasis and limited efficacy of systemic therapies. This scenario highlights the need to fervently pursue novel therapeutic strategies to treat this disease. Recent research has uncovered complicated dynamics within the tumor microenvironment (TME) of PDAC. An abundant stroma provides a framework for interactions between cancer-associated fibroblasts, suppressive myeloid cells and regulatory lymphocytes, which together create an inhospitable environment for adaptive immune responses. This accounts for the poor infiltration and exhausted phenotypes of effector T cells within pancreatic tumors. Innovative studies in genetically engineered mouse models have established that with appropriate pharmacological modulation of suppressive elements in the TME, T cells can be prompted to regress pancreatic tumors. In light of this knowledge, innovative combinatorial strategies involving immunotherapy and targeted therapies working in concert are rapidly emerging. This review will highlight recent advances in the field related to immune suppression in PDAC, emerging preclinical data and rationale for ongoing immunotherapy clinical trials. In particular, we draw attention to foundational findings involving T-cell activity in PDAC and encourage development of novel therapeutics to improve T-cell responses in this challenging disease.https://jitc.bmj.com/content/8/2/e001100.full
spellingShingle Gregory B Lesinski
Bassel F El-Rayes
Michael Brandon Ware
Mirage or long-awaited oasis: reinvigorating T-cell responses in pancreatic cancer
Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer
title Mirage or long-awaited oasis: reinvigorating T-cell responses in pancreatic cancer
title_full Mirage or long-awaited oasis: reinvigorating T-cell responses in pancreatic cancer
title_fullStr Mirage or long-awaited oasis: reinvigorating T-cell responses in pancreatic cancer
title_full_unstemmed Mirage or long-awaited oasis: reinvigorating T-cell responses in pancreatic cancer
title_short Mirage or long-awaited oasis: reinvigorating T-cell responses in pancreatic cancer
title_sort mirage or long awaited oasis reinvigorating t cell responses in pancreatic cancer
url https://jitc.bmj.com/content/8/2/e001100.full
work_keys_str_mv AT gregoryblesinski mirageorlongawaitedoasisreinvigoratingtcellresponsesinpancreaticcancer
AT basselfelrayes mirageorlongawaitedoasisreinvigoratingtcellresponsesinpancreaticcancer
AT michaelbrandonware mirageorlongawaitedoasisreinvigoratingtcellresponsesinpancreaticcancer