Pancreatic cancer remains one of the most lethal malignancies, with high disease relapse due to the survival of chemotherapy-resistant tumor cells. Past immunotherapy efforts have had little success, hindered by both the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment and inability to address the clonal diversity of the tumor. A promising strategy to overcome these challenges is the development of a personalized cancer vaccine. Using patient-derived tumor cells fused with autologous dendritic cells (DCs), these vaccines can elicit an immune response targeted specifically towards the patient’s tumor. This strategy has proven to be successful for other types of cancer, including acute myeloid leukemia.
In my project with the Avigan Lab, I will contribute to the development of these fusion vaccines for pancreatic cancer. Our aim is to expand tumor cells using 3D organoid culture, differentiate peripheral blood monocytes into DCs, and generate DC/PC fusions. We will then assess the viability and immunogenic potential of these fusions. This work will provide essential data on the feasibility and efficacy of personalized cancer vaccines for pancreatic cancer. Ultimately, this approach could lay the foundation for a novel immunotherapy strategy tailored to the complex biology of pancreatic cancer.
