Macrophage-Targeting by CSF1/1R Blockade in Pancreatic Cancers

Published in Cancer Research in 2014, Zhu and colleagues achieved a mechanistic leap in our understanding of cancer-associated macrophage biology with their proof-of-concept study showing that macrophage-specific targeting, via blocking colony-stimulating factor–1 (CSF1) signaling through its cognate receptor CSF1R, synergized with checkpoint immunotherapy to enhance antitumor immunity in mouse models of pancreatic cancer. Here, we reflect on the critical set of observations presented in this study and how the study’s findings fueled the subsequent efforts to translate CSF1/1R-specific and other tumor-associated macrophage modulating therapies into the clinic.