Macrophage PI3Kγ Drives Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Progression

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a devastating disease with a low 5-year survival rate, yet new immunotherapeutic modalities may offer hope for this and other intractable cancers. Here, we report that inhibitory targeting of PI3K gamma, a key macrophage lipid kinase, stimulates antitumor immune responses, leading to improved survival and responsiveness to standard-of-care chemotherapy in animal models of PDAC. PI3 gamma. selectively drives immunosuppressive transcriptional programming in macrophages that inhibits adaptive immune responses and promotes tumor cell invasion and desmoplasia in PDAC. Blockade of PI3 gamma. in PDAC-bearing mice reprograms tumor-associated macrophages to stimulate CD8+T-cell-mediated tumor suppression and to inhibit tumor cell invasion, metastasis, and desmoplasia. These data indicate the central role that macrophage PI3 gamma. plays in PDAC progression and demonstrate that pharmacologic inhibition of PI3 gamma. represents a new therapeutic modality for this devastating tumor type. SIGNIFICANCE: We report here that PI3K gamma regulates macrophage transcriptional programming, leading to T-cell suppression, desmoplasia, and metastasis in pancreas adenocarcinoma. Genetic or pharmacologic inhibition of PI3K. restores antitumor immune responses and improves responsiveness to standard-of-care chemotherapy. PI3K. represents a new therapeutic immune target for pancreas cancer. Cancer Discov; 6(8); 870-85. (C) 2016 AACR.