Immune cells in pancreatic cancer: Joining the dark side

Yaqing Zhang; Florencia McAllister; Marina Pasca di Magliano

doi:10.4161/onci.29125

Immune cells in pancreatic cancer: Joining the dark side

Oncoimmunology. 2014 Jun 5;3:e29125. doi: 10.4161/onci.29125. eCollection 2014.

Authors

Yaqing Zhang¹, Florencia McAllister², Marina Pasca di Magliano³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Surgery; University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, MI USA.
² Department of Oncology; Johns Hopkins University; Baltimore, MD USA ; Division of Clinical Pharmacology; Department of Medicine; Johns Hopkins University; Baltimore, MD USA.
³ Department of Surgery; University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, MI USA ; Program in Cellular and Molecular Biology; Ann Arbor, MI USA ; Department of Cell and Developmental Biology; Ann Arbor, MI USA ; Comprehensive Cancer Center; University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, MI USA.

Abstract

Pancreatic tumors are rich in immune cell infiltrates that include CD4⁺ T-cell subsets encompassing both regulatory T cells and T_H17 cells. Rather than protecting the organism by exerting an anticancer effect, these T-cell subsets promote tumor formation. Thus, re-activation of antitumor immunity should be investigated for use in pancreatic cancer prevention and therapy.

Keywords: CD4 T cells; CD8 T cells; IL-17; Kras; TH17 cells; mouse model; pancreatic cancer; regulatory T cells.