Immune monitoring in pancreatic cancer

Patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer have a poor survival. There is a strong need for new therapeutic approaches. The presence of pancreatic cancer is known to affect the functionality of the immune system and furthermore chemotherapy (CTx) and (chemo)radiotherapy (CRTx) can subvert immunosuppressive mechanisms, or elicit immune responses by immunogenic cell death of cancer cells. In depth analysis of the systemic (blood) and local (tumor tissue) immune parameters in patients with pancreatic cancer and during conventional therapies could reveal new insights in the interplay of these treatment modalities with the immune system and provide a basis/rationale for new (immuno)therapeutic approaches and combination therapies, e.g. including immune checkpoint blockade, adoptive immune therapies, Toll like receptors agonist and interferons in the current standard of care treatments.

analysis of the systemic (blood) and local (tumor tissue) immune parameters in patients with pancreatic cancer and during conventional therapies could reveal new insights in the interplay of these treatment modalities with the immune system and provide a basis/rationale for new (immuno)therapeutic approaches and combination therapies.

In general we will obtain a baseline sample from every patient (e.g. before surgery or before start of treatment) followed by several samples during their treatment course based on start of therapy and follow-up after each cycle of CTx and/or RTx (maximized at 11 timepoint in total).

Blood collection