Immunotherapy of pancreatic carcinoma
ABSTRACT
Patients with carcinoma of the exocrine pancreas have an especially poor prognosis. This is a systemic disease that is insensitive to radiotherapy and often to chemotherapy. One promising treatment strategy is immunotherapy, and several phase I/II clinical trials have been conducted. Unspecific stimulation or vaccinations with peptides have generated encouraging results and data from phase II clinical trials with combination therapies are highly promising. The use of immunotherapy and combination therapies that include immunotherapy for the potential treatment of pancreatic adenocarcinoma, requires investigation in phase III randomized and controlled clinical trials in combination with appropriate immunomonitoring.