Elucidation of the mechanism of anti-tumor effect by disabling the immune escape mechanism and development of treatment based on regulation of the pancreatic cancer microenvironment

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K07678
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 50020:Tumor diagnostics and therapeutics-related
• Research Institution: Kyushu University
• Principal Investigator: ONIMARU Manabu 九州大学, 医学研究院, 共同研究員 (80529876)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 寅田 信博 九州大学, 大学病院, 臨床検査技師 (00398075) ; 千々岩 芳朗 九州大学, 医学研究院, 共同研究員 (60783701) ; 永吉 絹子 九州大学, 大学病院, 助教 (90761015)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 膵癌 / 消化器癌 / 免疫逃避 / 免疫チェックポイント / PD-L1 / CTLA4

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Pancreatic cancer is one of the poorest prognosis cancers and has an extremely high biological grade. Pancreatic cancer is characterized by abundant stromal proliferation (desmoplasia) composed of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), which is thought to contribute to the resistance to treatment.
In this study, we performed single cell analysis of esophageal cancer using surgical specimens to clarify the changes in tumor immune microenvironment such as T cells and B cells before and after chemotherapy, and single cell analysis of pancreatic cancer using public data to clarify the expression of immune checkpoint molecules in CAFs in pancreatic cancer.

Free Research Field

医歯薬学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

膵癌は非常に予後不良な癌の１つであり、その予後不良の一因である腫瘍免疫微小環境の解明は新規治療法に必要な課題である。本研究ではシングルセル解析を用いて、化学療法前後の食道癌の腫瘍免疫微小環境の変化を解明し、またPublic dataを用いて膵癌のCAFsの免疫チェックポイント分子の発現を確認した。
化学療法前後の免疫細胞の変化は化学療法の効果を高める併用療法の開発につながる可能性が示唆された。