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Comment
. 2024 Feb 1;30(3):474-476.
doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-23-2991.

Pancreatic Cancer's PD1-Roadblock: When T-Cell Reinvigoration Is Not Enough

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Comment

Pancreatic Cancer's PD1-Roadblock: When T-Cell Reinvigoration Is Not Enough

Varintra E Lander et al. Clin Cancer Res. .

Abstract

PD1-blockade combinations in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma have been poorly effective, and the underlying reasons for this are unknown. A recent study revealed that chemoradiation plus PD1-blockade reinvigorates tumor-specific T cells; however, this T-cell activation is accompanied with exaggerated NFκB signaling, which may limit productive tumor-controlling immunity. See related article by Ali et al., p. 542.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:
Schematic representation of the trial design, which involved adding PD1-blockade to standard of care radiation therapies. Analysis of T cells from blood and tissue samples showed that the addition of PD1-blockade leads to both productive T cell changes (green arrow) as well as non-productive outcomes (red arrow). The key determinants driving a productive vs. non-productive T cell response to PD1-blockade are unknown, but likely critical to many immunotherapy-resitant cancers including PDAC.

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References

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