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Review
. 2022 Sep 23;29(10):6864-6892.
doi: 10.3390/curroncol29100541.

The Role of Immunotherapy in Pancreatic Cancer

Reetu Mukherji  1 , Dipanjan Debnath  2 , Marion L Hartley  1 , Marcus S Noel  1
Affiliations
Review

The Role of Immunotherapy in Pancreatic Cancer

Reetu Mukherji et al. Curr Oncol. .

Abstract

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma remains one of the most lethal cancers globally, with a significant need for improved therapeutic options. While the recent breakthroughs of immunotherapy through checkpoint inhibitors have dramatically changed treatment paradigms in other malignancies based on considerable survival benefits, this is not so for pancreatic cancer. Chemotherapies with modest benefits are still the cornerstone of advanced pancreatic cancer treatment. Pancreatic cancers are inherently immune-cold tumors and have been largely refractory to immunotherapies in clinical trials. Understanding and overcoming the current failures of immunotherapy through elucidating resistance mechanisms and developing novel therapeutic approaches are essential to harnessing the potential durable benefits of immune-modulating therapy in pancreatic cancer patients.

Keywords: PD-1; PD-L1; adenocarcinoma; checkpoint inhibitor; immunotherapy; pancreas cancer; vaccine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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