Pancreatic Cancer and the Immune System

Earlier this week, I wrote about some of the new chemotherapies that are being developed to treat pancreatic cancer more effectively.

Another major area of new drug research in pancreatic cancer is immunotherapy: finding ways to activate the body’s immune system to contain or attack the cancer cells.

There are a number of different methods that are being investigated to activate the immune system, including the use of vaccines and drugs that target specific parts of the immune pathways. At Pancreas Centre BC, immunotherapy experts are working on this, and there are also several clinical trials testing new ways to modify the immune system in an attempt to improve its ability to contain cancer cells.

With an increasing number of therapies becoming available for pancreatic cancer, a major area of interest for our group and others is finding ways to individualize patients’ treatments by understanding what aspects of their cancer may make them more sensitive to a specific therapy. 

Next week, I will discuss the work our group is doing to personalize therapy for pancreatic cancer.

Thanks for reading,
Dan