The composition and organization of immune cells within a tumor, known as its immune contexture, are key to understanding how a tumor will respond to treatment.

Dr. Lisa Coussens has developed sophisticated tools to analyze and visualize the immune cells within tumors. Using these techniques, she is comparing the immune cell makeup of primary and metastatic pancreatic tumors to investigate why patients may respond differently to therapy. Her work has been a major asset for the research community, providing valuable methods for comparing a tumor's response in individual patients during clinical trials or case studies.

Improving Immunotherapy for Pancreatic Cancer

While immunotherapies have been widely successful in treating other cancers, such as melanoma, they have been largely unsuccessful against pancreatic cancer. BCCPC researchers are investigating new ways to improve the response to current immunotherapies and develop novel approaches.

Dr. Katelyn Byrne's research focuses on understanding the mechanisms that regulate the immune response against pancreatic tumors. She aims to connect the innate and adaptive immune responses to overcome the immune suppression that often occurs in pancreatic cancer. She works closely with oncologist Dr. Charles Lopez to develop clinical trials using promising immune oncology agents.

Dr. Robert Eil is pursuing new approaches to chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy. CAR T cell therapy involves engineering a patient's own T cells to recognize and attack their cancer. While successful for blood cancers, it has been challenging in solid tumors due to difficulties in distinguishing between cancer and healthy tissues. Dr. Eil is actively working on controlling the function of these engineered T cells outside of the tumor site using a novel mouse model.

Our researchers are exploring the tumor microenvironment from multiple angles to find new ways to treat pancreatic cancer.

• Algorithm for quantitative image analysis of pancreatic tumor microenvironment – Young Hwan Chang
• Spatial analysis of stromal cell composition and heterogeneity in pancreatic cancer and precursor lesions – Koei Chin
• MRI assessment of tumor microvasculature and macrophages following immune modulation – Alexander Guimaraes
• Using electron microscopy to understand pancreatic cancer nanoarchitecture – Jessica Riesterer
• 3D bioprinting of pancreatic tumor and microenvironment – Rosalie Sears
• Evaluate immune response to therapy in phase 1B/II study examining agonistic CD40 mAb plus nab-paclitaxel/gemcitabine – Lisa Coussens
• Novel immune checkpoint PSGL-1 in pancreatic cancer – Katelyn Byrne