WASHINGTON (Dispatches) -- Scientists have found a triple immunotherapy combination that targeted checkpoints in both T cells and myeloid suppressor cells, which led to an unprecedented curative response in the treatment of Pancreatic Cancer.
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center researchers used comprehensive immune profiling in mouse and human pancreatic cancers to systematically identify mechanisms of immunotherapy resistance and investigate potential therapeutic targets. They found that neutralizing several distinct immunosuppressive mechanisms of the tumor immune microenvironment ( TIME) dramatically improved survival rates in laboratory models, pointing to a potential treatment option for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.
This preclinical study shows that it can be vulnerable to the right combination therapy. Furthermore, the presence of the targets in human pancreatic cancer specimens raises the exciting possibility that such therapeutic combinations could one day help patients.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death in the United States, partially because 80% of cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage.