Recent studies of human pancreatic cancer challenge the mouse model-derived notion that the pancreas is a site of immune privilege. A heavy infiltration of CD8+ T cells expressing programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) and smaller numbers of myeloid cells and regulatory T cells provides rationale for the clinical evaluation of immune checkpoint inhibition as a pancreatic cancer therapeutic strategy.
Keywords: IDO; PD-1; immune checkpoints; myeloid cells; regulatory T cells.