Suppressing the Immune System Improves Pancreatic Cancer Treatment

The first phase of a national clinical trial is due to launch, testing a novel pancreatic cancer therapy using a protein inhibitor that suppresses the immune system and makes cancer cells more susceptible to immunotherapy and chemotherapy. The trial follows research done by a team from Washington University at the Siteman Cancer Center (MO, USA), which showed increased survival rates in mouse models of typically treatment-resistant and aggressive pancreatic cancer when treated with immunotherapy and the protein inhibitor together.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is a deadly, aggressive cancer that is resistant to typical cancer treatments and leaves patients with few options. Researchers have discovered that this is due to chronic inflammation, which causes an aggravated response from surrounding T cells. The inflammation causes ‘T cell exhaustion’ and reduces their ability to fight cancer cells. Read more . . .

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