The induction of peripheral trained immunity in the pancreas incites anti-tumor activity to control pancreatic cancer progression

The advent of immunotherapy has revolutionised cancer therapeutics, but its application in the context of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma has been limited. Here authors explore the effect of innate trained responses to fungal beta-glucan and assess its effect in a murine model of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma where they observe reduced tumour burden and enhanced survival. Despite the remarkable success of immunotherapy in many types of cancer, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma has yet to benefit. Innate immune cells are critical to anti-tumor immunosurveillance and recent studies have revealed that these populations possess a form of memory, termed trained innate immunity, which occurs through transcriptomic, epigenetic, and metabolic reprograming. Here we demonstrate that yeast-derived particulate beta-glucan, an inducer of trained immunity, traffics to the pancreas, which causes a CCR2-dependent influx of monocytes/macrophages to the pancreas that display features of trained immunity. These cells can be activated upon exposure to tumor cells and tumor-derived factors, and show enhanced cytotoxicity against pancreatic tumor cells. In orthotopic models of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, beta-glucan treated mice show significantly reduced tumor burden and prolonged survival, which is further enhanced when combined with immunotherapy. These findings characterize the dynamic mechanisms and localization of peripheral trained immunity and identify an application of trained immunity to cancer.

Automated summary

The application of immunotherapy in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma has been limited, but researchers have found that fungal beta-glucan can induce trained immunity, resulting in reduced tumor burden and improved survival in mouse models. This study highlights the importance of innate immune cells in anti-tumor immunosurveillance and suggests a potential application of trained immunity in cancer therapy.