Advancing Immunotherapy in Pancreatic Cancer

Abstract

Pancreatic cancer remains one of the deadliest malignancies, with a consistently low five-year survival rate for the past several decades. This is in stark contrast to other cancers, which have seen significant improvement in survival and prognosis due to recent developments in therapeutic modalities. These modest improvements in pancreatic cancer outcomes have primarily resulted from minor advances in cytotoxic chemotherapeutics, with limited progress in other treatment approaches. A major focus of current therapeutic research is the further development of immunomodulatory therapies characterized by antibody-based approaches, cellular therapies, and vaccines. Although initial results utilizing immunotherapy in pancreatic cancer have been mixed, recent clinical trials have demonstrated significant improvements in patient outcomes. In this review, we detail these three approaches to immunomodulation, highlighting their common targets and distinct shortcomings, and we provide a narrative summary of completed and ongoing clinical trials that utilize these approaches to immunomodulation. Within this context, we aim to inform future research efforts by identifying promising areas that warrant further exploration.

Keywords: antibody therapy; cellular therapy; clinical trial; immune checkpoint inhibitor; immunotherapy; pancreatic cancer; vaccine therapy.

Figure 1

Current trends in immunotherapy in pancreatic cancer. The solid line indicates the trials with a completed status on ClinicalTrials.gov, and the dashed line represents the trials with an active status on ClinicalTrials.gov as of August 2024.