Researcher: Dr Peter Wan
Location: University of Oxford
Type of award: Career Foundation Fellowship
Date: October 2025
Project status: Ongoing
Targeting immunotherapy to the pancreatic cancer tumour microenvironment
The challenge
We desperately need new and more effective treatments for pancreatic cancer. Immunotherapy is a new type of treatment that works by boosting or activating the body’s own immune system to help it find and destroy diseases, most commonly cancer. Whilst immunotherapy has achieved great success for some cancers, such as leukaemia, it is not currently effective against pancreatic cancer.
One major reason pancreatic cancer is so difficult to treat is that the tumour is surrounded by a tough outer layer of non-cancer cells called the stroma, which forms a physical barrier around the tumour. This tough layer helps the tumour to hide from the immune system and prevents treatments such as immunotherapy and chemotherapy from reaching and destroying the cancer cells.
In this project, Dr Wan aims to develop a new immunotherapy that boosts the immune system to destroy both pancreatic cancer cells as well as stromal cells.
The project
Dr Wan aims to develop an immunotherapy which uses specialised proteins called antibodies that work like precise, focused tags. He will design lab-made antibodies which find and stick only to the target cancer or stromal cells, leaving healthy cells alone.
Once an antibody finds and attaches its target cell it can do one of two things: it can turn on the body’s immune cells, alerting them to destroy the cancer cells, or it can block the growth messages that cells rely on to multiply and survive. This process is highly accurate and is designed to eliminate the cancer cells specifically, reducing the risk of harmful side effects.
Dr Wan will examine pancreatic cancer tumour biopsies taken from patients to identify the best molecules on the surface of the cancer and stromal cells to target with the antibodies, and also to test his antibodies to ensure that they are safe and effective. He will then examine how well the new drug works on its own compared to other treatments, and whether it works better when teamed up with other common cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy.
The hope
Dr Wan hopes to develop a new, safe and effective antibody immunotherapy for pancreatic cancer. By boosting the immune system to destroy both the cancer cells as well as the cells that make up the tough outer layer surrounding the tumour, Dr Wan aims to overcome some of the current limitations in immunotherapy for pancreatic cancer, give people diagnosed with this devastating disease more desperately needed treatment options.
“I am extremely grateful to Pancreatic Cancer UK for supporting me to conduct this exciting project. Developing better treatments for pancreatic cancer has long been my career ambition, as this is a disease where new options are urgently needed. While much of the pharmaceutical industry focuses on cancers that are easier to treat, I believe academic researchers have a responsibility to tackle the most difficult challenges, and pancreatic cancer is one of them."
