(ECNS) --Chinese medical experts have made a groundbreaking discovery in the role of Cysteine-Rich Protein 1 (CRIP1) in shaping the immunosuppressive microenvironment of pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest types of cancer.
The discovery holds the crucial key to activating the immune responsiveness against pancreatic cancer, providing a theoretical basis for more precise immunotherapy.
Despite the proven efficacy in various solid tumors, pancreatic cancer has historically shown limited response to immunotherapy.
According to Professor Yu Xianjun, director of Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), one of the most lethal solid tumors, constitutes approximately 90 percent of pancreatic cancer cases. Notwithstanding significant advancements in surgery and other therapies in recent years, there hasn’t been a marked improvement in the prognosis of PDAC patients.
“We aimed to investigate the mechanism of tumor cells in tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) formation and provide potential combination treatment strategies for PDAC patients based on genotypic heterogeneity,” explained Yu.
Previous research has indicated that the dynamic interactions between immune cells and other cells, especially heterogeneous cancer cells, contribute to TIME formation in PDAC.
To further investigate the role of CRIP1 in PDAC, the team led by Yu and Associate Professor Shi Si employed multiple approaches.
The discovery proves that CRIP1 may emerge as an attractive novel target for improving immune activation in PDAC and may benefit patients with precise immunotherapy.
Clinically, the strategies targeting CRIP1 may be effective, as high CRIP1 expression predicts a poor prognosis for patients with PDAC and facilitates the formation of an immunosuppressive microenvironment.
The research was released in the international journal GUT.
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