{"id":"doi:10.1007/s12029-025-01165-4","kind":"review","title":"Advances in Vaccine-Based Therapies for Pancreatic Cancer","authors":["Matthew T. McMillan","Kevin C. Soares"],"author_count":2,"year":2025,"published":"2025-02-12","venue":"Journal of Gastrointestinal Cancer","cited_by":17,"doi":"10.1007/s12029-025-01165-4","arxiv_id":null,"nct_id":null,"source_url":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s12029-025-01165-4","archive_url":"https://space-kitty.com/papers/doi:10.1007/s12029-025-01165-4","updated":null,"pmid":"39939414","pmcid":null,"openalex_id":"W4407402914","pdf_url":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12029-025-01165-4.pdf","abstract":"Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains one of the most lethal cancers, with a 5-year survival rate that has improved only marginally over the past 30 years, despite numerous clinical trials. PDAC poses several unique challenges, including early metastatic spread and a predilection for liver metastasis. It is also highly resistant to anti-tumor immunity and immunotherapy due to its dense and immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, low immunogenicity, and systemic immune suppression. PDAC has a low mutational burden, defective antigen presentation, and immune checkpoint molecule upregulation, which reduce immune recognition. Together, these factors leave PDAC as an \"immune cold\" tumor with minimal cytotoxic T-cell activity. Novel therapeutic approaches are urgently needed to reinvigorate anti-tumor immunity. Recent advances, such as adjuvant personalized mRNA neoantigen vaccines and mutant-KRAS targeted vaccines, have demonstrated sustained vaccine-induced T cell responses that are associated with improved recurrence-free survival in surgically resected PDAC. Combining different vaccine approaches with optimal sequencing of chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy, and other immunotherapies may further enhance outcomes. PDAC vaccines represent a promising strategy for overcoming PDAC's resistance to conventional therapies, with ongoing trials exploring their potential to improve long-term survival.","abstract_license":"CC-BY (publisher license, via OpenAlex)","license":"cc-by","is_open_access":true,"retracted":false,"peer_reviewed":null,"categories":["Pancreatic and Hepatic Oncology Research"],"details":null,"provenance":"openalex","attribution":"Abstract of \"Advances in Vaccine-Based Therapies for Pancreatic Cancer\" by Matthew T. McMillan, Kevin C. Soares, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12029-025-01165-4, used under its Creative Commons Attribution license (CC-BY); markup removed, otherwise unmodified.","topics":[{"slug":"mrna-cancer-vaccines","name":"mRNA Therapeutics & Cancer Vaccines","domain_slug":"medicine"}],"cited_in_dossiers":[]}