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Pancreatic cancer doesn’t discriminate, and Canada’s healthcare system shouldn’t either.

As a family, we know families from smaller provinces hit barriers at every turn, from accessing crucial tools like somatic testing to joining clinical trials that improve outcomes.

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Immunotherapy

Tests like FoundationOne CDx are important to find patients who might benefit most from immunotherapy. This personalized approach ensures treatments fit each patient’s unique cancer.

Illustration of CAR T cell immunotherapy, showing immune cells interacting with cancer cell membranes.
CAR T-cell therapy is an innovative cancer treatment that modifies a patient’s T cells to recognize and attack cancer cells. While it has shown success in blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, its application in solid tumours, such as pancreatic cancer, is still under investigation.

Immunotherapy is a new way to treat pancreatic cancer by using the body’s immune system to fight cancer cells. Unlike standard treatments that attack tumors directly, immunotherapy helps the immune system find and destroy cancer cells, offering a more personalized treatment.

Keytruda® (pembrolizumab) is a notable immunotherapy drug. It blocks the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway, which can help the immune system detect and attack cancer cells. Keytruda has shown promise, especially in patients with certain genetic profiles.

To see if a patient might benefit from immunotherapy like Keytruda, doctors use tests like FoundationOne® CDx. This test looks at the tumor’s genetic makeup, including markers like Tumor Mutational Burden (TMB) and Microsatellite Instability (MSI). A high TMB means there are more mutations in the tumor’s DNA, which may make the cancer more visible to the immune system and more likely to respond to immunotherapy. Similarly, MSI-high status can also suggest a better response to treatments like Keytruda.

Not all pancreatic cancer patients will benefit from immunotherapy. Factors like the tumours environment and individual genetics affect how well the treatment works. Tests like FoundationOne CDx are important to find patients who might benefit most from immunotherapy. This personalized approach ensures treatments fit each patient’s unique cancer.

As research continues, immunotherapy could change how we treat pancreatic cancer. By using the body’s natural defenses, it offers hope for more effective and less harmful treatments. Patients should talk to their healthcare providers about immunotherapy and consider joining clinical trials, which are key to advancing this promising field.