Name: Advances in Immunotherapy for Pancreatic Cancer: Robert H. Vonderheide, MD, DPhil (Part 2)
Uploaded: 2019-08-13T00:00:00+00:00
Description: Dr. Robert H. Vonderheide, Director the Abramson Cancer Center at Penn Medicine, describes the pathology of pancreatic cancer as the primary challenge to treatment. He reviews recent advances—including combination chemotherapies and PARP inhibition for BRCA 1/2 subpopulations—that are beginning to redefine disease outcomes in some patients.

Robert H. Vonderheide, MD, DPhil, was the keynote speaker at the 2019 Immunology & Immunotherapy for Pancreatic Cancer Symposium at Penn Medicine.

In Part 2 of his presentation, he described the pathology of pancreatic cancer as the primary challenge to treatment. He reviewed recent advances, including combination chemotherapies and PARP inhibition for BRCA 1/2 subpopulations, that are beginning to redefine disease outcomes in some patients.

Can a T lymphocyte recognize a tumor cell and kill it? “Twenty-five years ago, it was doubted that this could be possible,” Dr. Vonderheide explained. “But now we know it’s not a sidebar to cancer biology: It’s part of cancer biology.”

Additionally, Dr. Vonderheide explained how the paradigm for immunotherapy has been modified to address the disease and its mutational challenges.

“What we’re learning is not that checkpoint [blockade] works in almost every tumor, to some degree.” He continued, “Checkpoint works in nearly every cancer type--but only in a fraction of the patients.”

A renowned leader in his field, Dr. Vonderheide explores mechanisms of cancer immune surveillance and develops novel cancer therapies, specifically in pancreatic cancer.

Advances in Immunotherapy for Pancreatic Cancer: Robert H. Vonderheide, MD, DPhil (Part 3)