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Immunotherapy for pancreatic cancer

  • Review – Clinical Oncology
  • Published:
Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Introduction

Pancreatic cancer is among the most lethal malignancies resistant to conventional therapies. The vast majority of patients is diagnosed with advanced/metastatic disease and consequently has grim prognosis. Despite the available options with nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine or 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin/oxaliplatin, chemotherapy offers a modest survival benefit. Targeted therapy in combination with chemotherapy has not shown significant improvement in treatment outcomes. The urgent need for new therapies has turned the spotlights on immunotherapy. Immunotherapy in pancreatic cancer recruits and activates T cells which recognize tumor-specific antigens.

Results

Preclinical models have demonstrated that chemotherapy or targeted therapy works synergistically with immunotherapy. A growing body of evidence has already been gathered regarding the efficacy of checkpoint inhibitors, vaccines, adoptive T cell therapy, monoclonal antibodies, and cytokines in patients with pancreatic cancer.

Conclusions

Many ongoing trials are aiming to identify treatments which could combine efficacy with limited toxicity. In this article, we review the available data concerning multiple aspects of immunotherapy in pancreatic cancer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oncology Unit, 3rd Department of Internal Medicine, Sotiria General Hospital, Athens University School of Medicine, 152 Mesogeion Avenue, Athens, Greece

    Elias Kotteas & Konstantinos Syrigos

  2. Section of GI and Experimental Therapeutics, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA

    Muhammad Wasif Saif

  3. Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Konstantinos Syrigos

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  1. Elias Kotteas
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  2. Muhammad Wasif Saif
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  3. Konstantinos Syrigos
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Correspondence to Elias Kotteas.

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Elias Kotteas, Muhammad Wasif Saif, and Kostas Syrigos declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Kotteas, E., Saif, M.W. & Syrigos, K. Immunotherapy for pancreatic cancer. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 142, 1795–1805 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-016-2119-2

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