It has remained unclear as to why the immune response is not more effective in pancreatic cancer and whether the stroma and immune response can be modulated for therapeutic gain. The focus of our Fox Chase Cancer Center PDAC TME Working Group has led to a number of insights that are highly relevant to these questions and that offer some direction for therapeutic intervention. Our studies are unraveling important aspects of the PDAC TME that limit immune infiltration and anti-tumor effects while providing a path towards potentially effective therapy that can be applied in the clinic.
Progress made through this PDAC TME Working Group is expected to provide novel and unique insights into the tumor-promoting interplay between the stroma and the immune response in the PDAC TME and this is expected to offer a path towards novel therapy for PDAC patients.
Our collaborating investigators include Igor Astsaturov, Kerry Campbell, Edna Cukierman, Carolyn Fang, Tiffney Hartman, and Eric Ross.