Pancreatic cancer patients may benefit from future precision treatments as a new study shows how some tumours may potentially be more susceptible to macrophage-based therapies.
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the deadliest cancers, with very few effective treatment options. A new study analysing immune cells from pancreatic tumours and the blood of 12 patients—along with data from other studies—reveals that the immune environment in these tumours is highly complex.
The study, published in Nature Communications, was led by Associate Professor Rachael Bashford-Rogers at the University of Oxford and Associate Professor Shivan Sivakumar from the University of Birmingham who conducted much of the early research at the Kennedy Institute, University of Oxford. It provides the most detailed immune map yet for pancreatic cancer. The researchers found that some pancreatic cancer patients have adaptive-enriched tumours, where the immune system mounts a stronger response, with more B and T cells attempting to fight the cancer. Others have myeloid-enriched (ME) tumours, dominated by immunosuppressive myeloid cells that can weaken the body’s ability to attack the tumour. Patients with ME tumours tend to have worse survival outcomes.
Professor Rachael Bashford-Rogers, senior author of the study said: ‘This research helps explain why current immunotherapies have largely failed in pancreatic cancer and offers a roadmap for developing new treatments tailored to the immune makeup of each patient’s tumour. By combining multiple types of data and advanced computational tools, this study provides valuable insights that could guide future clinical trials and improve survival for pancreatic cancer patients.