The prospects of immunotherapy in pancreatic cancer

The ability of escaping immune surveillance has been recognized as one of the hallmarks of cancer. Targeting immune evasion with immunotherapies, in particular, immune checkpoint blockade, has revolutionized cancer therapies and achieved durable tumor remission in some cancer patients. However, pancreatic cancer is one of the few cancer types that remain refractory to current immunotherapy strategies. Multiple reasons, including tumor cell intrinsic factors and components of the complex tumor microenvironment, contribute to the remarkable resistance to conventional immunotherapy in pancreatic cancer. In this review, we describe the key factors limiting immunotherapy efficacy, outline the current landscape of immunotherapy effort in pancreatic cancer, and provide prospect on the path moving forward.