Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers, with extremely poor survival rates, highlighting the urgent need for new and more effective treatments. Immunotherapy, a promising cancer treatment that leverages the body's immune system to fight cancer, has shown limited success in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Understanding why PDA tumors resist immunotherapy could help improve the effectiveness of existing treatments and lead to better outcomes for patients.
Tumors are not just cancer cells, but include many other cell types, including immune cells. A tumor’s DNA makeup can profoundly influence the number and types of immune cells surrounding the tumor, but the specific mutations directing immune response and their associated biochemical mechanisms are poorly understood. KRAS gene mutations are present in almost all pancreatic tumors, though there is considerable variation in patient outcomes depending on KRAS genotype. Our data using mouse models and publicly available and real-world human PDAC datasets indicate different immune cell populations are present in pancreas tumors based on tumor genotype. Our ultimate goal is to develop personalized, more effective treatment strategies for patients with PDA based on their genotype and/or immunophenotype.
About the speaker
Dr. Despina Siolas, M.D., Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Medicine and physician at Weill Cornell Medicine. She received her Bachelor of Science with summa cum laude honors from St. John’s University. She attended medical school at Stony Brook University, where she was awarded the prestigious E-Trade Financial Scholarship from the Hellenic Medical Society of New York. In addition to her MD degree, Dr. Siolas is the recipient of a Doctor of Philosophy in Genetics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook for studies she conducted in the lab of Greg Hannon PhD, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor, at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. She completed her internal medicine residency training and hematology/oncology fellowship at NYU Langone Health.
In addition to treating patients, Dr. Siolas conducts research on cancer genes that influence the immune microenvironment using preclinical models of pancreatic cancer and colon cancer. She has authored numerous publications and has received a prestigious Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award (K08) from the National Institute of Health. She is a member of the American Society for Clinical Oncology, the American Association for Cancer Research, and American Medical Association, and Hellenic Medical Society.