title: A critical review of T cell targeting immunotherapy in pancreatic cancer: only a hypothesis or a real hope for the patients?
abstract: T cell targeting immunotherapy is now being investigated in patients with pancreatic carcinomas. Until recently this therapeutic strategy has been used as a single specific treatment and clinical studies have demonstrated that tumour-specific T cell responses can be induced in a subset of patients and even in patients with advanced disease. However, it remains to be demonstrated whether these T cell responses can mediate clinically relevant antitumour reactivity. Furthermore, in vitro studies of cancer cell susceptibility to antitumour T cell reactivity are often limited to cancer cell lines because native tumour cells are frequently not available from patients. It is therefore still a hypothesis that T cell targeting immunotherapy can be developed into an efficient therapeutic strategy in patients with inoperable pancreatic cancer. Future investigations of this therapeutic strategy should probably focus on its incorporation into treatment regimens that also include other newer treatment strategies, for example tumour-reactive antibodies coupled with toxins or cytotoxic drugs, improved vaccination procedures probably including the use of dendritic cells and enhancement of antigenic presentation in the tumour microenvironment. T cell targeting immunotherapy will contribute to the hope of curative treatment in patients with inoperable tumours if such combinatory approaches can be developed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital N-5021 Bergen, Norway. oystein.bruserud@haukeland.no
authors.forename: Øystein
authors.initials: Ø
authors.lastname: Bruserud
authors.forename: Nils
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Glenjen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016207:Cytokines / Q000096:biosynthesis; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D017154:Stromal Cells / Q000502:physiology; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology; D014611:Vaccination
chemical_list: D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D016207:Cytokines; D000939:Epitopes