T-Cell Immunotherapy against Mutant KRAS for Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is the deadliest of all common cancers. The reasons for this are the advanced cancer stage by the time symptoms are noted and the occult presence of micrometastases in the liver and elsewhere at the time of initial surgical treatment. In addition, systemic therapy with chemotherapy rarely cures systemic disease, and immunotherapy with T-cell checkpoint inhibitors is notoriously ineffective. Therefore, the study reported by Leidner et al.(1) in this issue of the Journal is remarkable because it shows deep and durable tumor shrinkage in a heavily pretreated patient who received an infusion of autologous T cells transduced . . .