Investigating The Role Of The Tumor Microenvironment And Its Role In Radiation Therapy In Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer is the 10th most common cancer in Ireland and the 5th most common cause of death. The 5 year survival rate is approximately 6%, due to late diagnosis by which time usually metastasis has occurred. Despite an increase in research on the disease in recent years very little progress has been made and the development of new, more effective therapies is needed. The role of the tumor microenvironment in the progression of pancreatic cancer is becoming the focus of more and more research. It has been determined that the tumor microenvironment plays a significant role in the progression and invasion of the cancer cells and also plays a role in the resistance of tumor to therapy. Utilizing established pancreatic cell lines and human derived fibroblasts and stellate cells, an indirect co-culture approach has been utilized to investigate the mechanisms by which the fibroblasts and stellate cells in the tumor influence the behavior of the cancer cells. Using the same indirect co-culture approach we have sought to evaluate the role in which these stromal components have in the tumor cells response to radiation therapy. We have utilized single and fractionated doses to determine if the different approaches have varying effects on the proliferation, invasion and colony forming ability of the cancer cells. It is hoped that this in vitro evaluation could be used to inform a better approach to radiation treatment of pancreatic cancer. Citation Format: Fiona O9Neill, Gemma Moore, Serena O9Keeffe, Brendan McClean, Gerard McVey, Michael Moriarty, Laura Breen, Martin Clynes. Investigating the role of the tumor microenvironment and its role in radiation therapy in pancreatic cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Function of Tumor Microenvironment in Cancer Progression; 2016 Jan 7–10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(15 Suppl):Abstract nr C20.