Old chemo drug, new pancreatic cancer therapy?

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (red) resists the body’s immune response by surrounding itself with a protective lining that keeps T cells (green) at bay. Credit: Fearon lab/Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory The fight against cancer is an arms race, and one of the most effective weapons in clinicians’ arsenals is immunotherapy. Immune checkpoint therapy has become the standard for treating several types of cancer. However, the Nobel Prize-winning strategy is ineffective for most pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients. “Immune checkpoint therapy is only an option in rare cases of PDAC,” Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Professor Douglas Fearon says. “It’s only effective Read More