Immunotherapy for Pancreatic Cancer

The pancreas is an organ of the digestive system, situated behind the stomach, bordering the spleen and small intestine. It has two primary functions  an endocrine function that releases insulin and glucagon into the bloodstream, and an exocrine function that produces digestive enzymes that are released into the small intestine.

Immunotherapy is a treatment that requires your immune system attack cancer cells. Several trials, immunotherapy drugs for pancreatic cancer are in clinical trials. In clinical they are usually given with other treatments, like  as chemotherapy.The incidence of pancreatic cancer is rising, and some reports project that the number of new pancreatic cancer cases and pancreatic cancer deaths will be increased. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) accounts for more than 90% of pancreatic cancer cases.Pancreatic cancer is very difficult to find  or to diagnose at early stages of disease. It often develops without early symptoms, there is no widely used method for early detection, and although few  risk factors have been identified (like  as tobacco use, familybackground of pancreatic cancer, and a personal background  of pancreatitis, diabetes, or overdose ), few patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer have identifiable risk factors. Pancreatic cancer is the world’s most lethal cancer, and the fourth leading region  of cancer-related death in the United States. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) is highly lethal  for all stages combined, the 1- and 5-year relative survival rates are 27% and 7%, respectively, making it the only cancer with an overall 5-year survival rate in the single digits.