Potentials of type I interferon therapy in the treatment of pancreatic cancer

Abstract

Pancreatic cancer is a highly aggressive malignancy with limited treatment options. Over the last 30 years survival rates have barely been approved and research has focused on other treatment modalities like biological modulators such as type I interferons (IFNs). A few years ago several in vitro, in vivo and clinical studies have been conducted evaluating adjuvant IFN-α therapy after curative resection of pancreatic cancer and although these studies showed promising results, the only randomized clinical trial did not demonstrate a significant survival benefit for patients receiving adjuvant IFN-α treatment. Therefore, to date, the use of interferons in the treatment of pancreatic cancer remains controversial. Nevertheless, before the start of these clinical studies, certain aspects of interferon therapy, such as the relevance of the interferon receptors, the importance of growth factors and the potential use of IFN-β were not addressed. In this thesis we aimed to further investigate the role of interferon therapy in the treatment of pancreatic cancer.