Immune profiles in the blood of patients with pancreatic cancer
In several cancers, the number and characteristics of white blood cells can help guide treatment choices. This study compares the immune profiles of people with pancreatic cancer with those of healthy volunteers and examines how disease stage and treatment affect those profiles.
Blood is collected before and during treatment. Multiplex flow cytometry measures 18 immune-cell populations and analyses more than 300 combinations of cell characteristics. By 2019, 173 patients at different stages of disease had joined the study and more than 600 blood samples had been collected.
The long-term aim is to use immune profiles to decide more precisely when treatment should begin or stop and when immunotherapy should be combined with other treatments. The findings are being prepared for scientific publication.