Dendritic cells are part of the immune system’s first line of defense against cancer and infections and is often used in immunotherapy to treat lung cancer. The question in study here is why immunotherapy tends to be more effective in treating lung cancer than pancreatic cancer and the answer may, in part, lie in the number of dendritic cells in the two types of tumors. Scientists have found in mouse models that pancreatic tumors have far fewer and less active dendritic cells than lung tumors, potentially preventing the immune cell from recognizing cancer cells as a threat.
For more information: https://www.cancer.gov/news-events/cancer-currents-blog/2020/pancreatic-cancer-dendritic-cells-immune-response
