Reprogramming tumor microenvironment could improve prospects for treatment of pancreatic cancer

Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have shown that inactivating CD44 in mouse models and human cells reprograms pancreatic cancer-associated fibroblasts, abolishing their immunosuppressive function and significantly shrinking tumors. The mechanistic study, published in Cell Death & Disease, suggests that targeting CD44 in stromal cells offers a new angle for pancreatic cancer therapy.