Developing immunotherapy to target pancreatic cancer
Join a focus group to share your thoughts
The project
Pancreatic cancer is very difficult to treat because the tumour is shielded by dense layers of cancer-supporting cells.
Dr Peter Wan from the University of Oxford plans to create a new form of immunotherapy that guides the body’s immune cells to attack both the cancer cells and the cancer-supporting cells. Peter plans to test this approach on freshly resected tumour samples from patients to make sure the treatment works well against the cancer while limiting damage to healthy tissue.
What are you going to do?
Peter will design antibody medicines that bring immune cells directly to pancreatic cancer cells and the surrounding cancer-supporting cells. These antibodies will be tested on freshly resected tumour samples from patients, alongside nearby healthy tissue, to make sure they are effective and safe.
Peter will also test whether combining this new therapy with chemotherapy and radiotherapy makes both treatments work better together. At the end of the study, he aims to identify the most promising antibody for further clinical development.
Why is this research important?
Pancreatic cancer has very low survival rates and current treatment options are limited. This approach directly tackles two main problems: (i) the cancer-supporting tissue that blocks immune cells, and (ii) the lack of testing in real patient tumours during therapeutic development.
By working with patient tumour samples, Peter can identify the safest and most effective medicines early. This new therapy could be used alongside existing treatments like chemotherapy or radiotherapy, and offer people more options. In the long term, it could help extend life and improve the quality of life for people with pancreatic cancer.
How do I get involved?
Peter would like to hold regular focus groups (one every six months) throughout the duration of the 3 year project which has just started. These focus groups will last for approximately 30 minutes and will be held in the evening to be more accessible. He would like to hear from anyone with lived experience of pancreatic cancer, including patients, survivors, carers, and family members.
No scientific background or prior experience is needed to take part in this opportunity.
Next steps
If you are interested in joining the focus groups or would like more information, please email Peter Wan (peter.wan@oncology.ox.ac.uk) quoting the involvement reference ‘RIN focus group’.
