Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers with a survival rate of only 10% within five years of diagnosis.

It is estimated that around 57,600 people in the United States will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2020, and around 47,050 people will die from the disease. Currently, surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy are the standard treatments for pancreatic cancer. However, a new therapy called immunotherapy is showing promising results in patients with pancreatic cancer.

Understanding Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy, also called biologic therapy, is a type of cancer treatment that uses the body’s natural defenses to fight cancer.

This therapy uses substances made by the body or in a laboratory to boost or restore the immune system’s ability to fight cancer cells. The goal of immunotherapy is to help the immune system recognize and attack cancer cells. Immunotherapy has been successful in treating other types of cancers such as melanoma, lung cancer, and bladder cancer.

Immunotherapy for Pancreatic Cancer

Immunotherapy has been found to be effective in pancreatic cancer treatment by targeting the immune checkpoints that are altered in pancreatic cancer cells.

These immune checkpoints are proteins on the surface of pancreatic cancer cells that help them evade the immune system. A class of drugs called immune checkpoint inhibitors can block these proteins and thereby help the immune system recognize and attack the cancer cells.

One of the immune checkpoint inhibitors used in immunotherapy is immune checkpoint inhibitors.

It targets programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), a protein on the surface of T cells, or immune cells, that suppresses the immune system’s ability to attack cancer cells. By blocking PD-1, the immune system can effectively attack the cancer cells. Another class of drugs used in immunotherapy is called cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) inhibitors.

They work by disrupting the function of a protein called CTLA-4, which also works to suppress the immune system.

Immunotherapy in Combination with Standard Therapy

In clinical trials, immunotherapy has shown promising results in pancreatic cancer treatment, but the results have not been consistent. Some patients have responded well to immunotherapy, while others have not.

One reason for the inconsistency is that pancreatic cancer cells have a dense fibrous barrier around them, which makes it difficult for immune cells to attack the cancer cells. However, studies have shown that combining immunotherapy with standard chemotherapy can break down this fibrous barrier and allow immune cells to enter the tumor and attack cancer cells.

Another approach to improving the efficacy of immunotherapy for pancreatic cancer is to combine it with other targeted therapies.

For example, combining immunotherapy with a drug targeting cancer cells’ DNA repair mechanisms can sensitize pancreatic cancer cells to the immune system’s attack and improve the overall response to immunotherapy.

Case Study: James Vlahos

James Vlahos, a writer for Wired magazine, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2017.

After two rounds of standard chemotherapy failed to show any positive results, Vlahos enrolled in a clinical trial at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for immunotherapy. The trial used a combination of two checkpoint inhibitors, pembrolizumab, and nivolumab.

After three months of treatment, Vlahos’ tumor had shrunk by 70%. The tumor had become small enough to be removed through surgery, which was not previously possible.

Vlahos underwent surgery to remove the tumor, and he is now cancer-free two years after his diagnosis. Vlahos’ case is an example of how immunotherapy can be successful in treating pancreatic cancer.

Conclusion

Immunotherapy is a promising new therapy that is showing remarkable results in treating pancreatic cancer.

Although it is still in the early stages, the results so far have been encouraging, and it may provide new and effective treatment options for pancreatic cancer patients. Combination therapy with standard therapy and other targeted therapies may increase the efficiency of immunotherapy, and more research is needed to further improve the treatment outcomes.