Abstract
Pancreas ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has one of the worst 5-year survival rates of all solid tumors, and thus new treatment strategies are urgently needed. Here, we report that targeting Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK), a key B-cell and macrophage kinase, restores T cell– dependent antitumor immune responses, thereby inhibiting PDAC growth and improving responsiveness to standard-of-care chemotherapy. We report that PDAC tumor growth depends on cross-talk between B cells and FcRγ+ tumor–associated macrophages, resulting in TH2-type macrophage programming via BTK activation in a PI3Kγ-dependent manner. Treatment of PDAC-bearing mice with the BTK inhibitor PCI32765 (ibrutinib) or by PI3Kγ inhibition reprogrammed macrophages toward a TH1 phenotype that fostered CD8+ T-cell cytotoxicity, and suppressed PDAC growth, indicating that BTK signaling mediates PDAC immunosuppression. These data indicate that pharmacologic inhibition of BTK in PDAC can reactivate adaptive immune responses, presenting a new therapeutic modality for this devastating tumor type. SIGNIFICANCE: We report that BTK regulates B-cell and macrophage-mediated T-cell suppression in pancreas adenocarcinomas. Inhibition of BTK with the FDA-approved inhibitor ibrutinib restores T cell–dependent antitumor immune responses to inhibit PDAC growth and improves responsiveness to chemotherapy, presenting a new therapeutic modality for pancreas cancer.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 270-285 |
Number of pages | 16 |
Journal | Cancer discovery |
Volume | 6 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 2016 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Oncology