Rotterdam, July 11 , 2024 – This month, renowned Journal of Clinical Oncology published the results of the follow-up study into dendritic cell therapy against pancreatic cancer. With this form of immunotherapy, the patient's immune cells are stimulated outside of the body to activate the immune system after vaccination to clear cancer cells. The study, which was conducted by Dr. Freek van ‘t Land under the leadership of Prof. Joachim Aerts and Prof. Casper van Eijck, shows that dendritic cell therapy is effective, even in a larger study population of patients who were cancer-free after surgery. Two-thirds (64%) of participants are still free of tumors after two years. A very promising result, since without this treatment the cancer usually returns within this period. An important insight is that dendritic cell therapy introduces specific immune cells that can be very effective against tumor cells, also in the long term.
The publication in Journal of Clinical Oncology can be found here.
Pancreatic cancer is the second deadliest form of cancer, with less than 5% surviving five years after diagnosis. A few years ago, Casper van Eijck and his research team took the path of immunotherapy – and the results of this follow-up study once again show that this is the right direction with pancreatic cancer. This time, the study population consisted of 38 patients, of whom 26 were still tumor-free two years later, a percentage of 64. The article was accompanied by a response from Eileen O’Reilly, a medical oncologist specializing in pancreatic cancer and affiliated with the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. O’Reilly writes that this study adds to the growing evidence that immunotherapy for pancreatic cancer not only produces a strong immune response, but can also generate an early oncological signal that is worthy of further investigation.
Prof. Dr. Casper van Eijck on the research and this form of immunotherapy: “Dendritic cells ensure that the tumor proteins are presented to immune cells, which are then activated to destroy tumor cells. At the moment, these are still general tumor proteins, but in the future we will apply this in an increasingly targeted manner. Thanks to this study, we know that the concept of the therapy is correct; now we can make it even more effective. The base for a follow-up study with 120 participants has been established. We also want to administer the dendritic cells earlier and not, as in the published study, only after chemotherapy, some six to nine months after surgery. We expect that starting earlier will lead to even better results. We are infinitely grateful to the patients who participated in the study. It is a very intensive study, which we could not have carried out without them.”
This study was made possible with the (financial) support of Erasmus MC, Topconsortia voor Kennis en Innovatie (TKI), Amphera B.V. and the Stichting Overleven met Alvleesklierkanker (Support Casper).
There has been great progress in the treatment of cancer, but pancreatic cancer is still a death sentence. The chances of survival are slim. Prof. Dr. Casper van Eijck, who has been a specialist at Erasmus MC for thirty years, has made it his mission to find a treatment for the disease. Since 2015, Stichting Overleven met Alvleesklierkanker has been running the ‘Support Casper’ campaign to fund groundbreaking research and to raise awareness for the disease. The aim is to be able to offer affordable treatment to every patient by 2030 at the latest. In the meantime, a team of scientists is working hard at the expense of the foundation. And with results: viro- and immunotherapy seem promising. Visit supportcasper.nl/en/