Commentary on “The MLL1-H3K4me3 axis-mediated PD-L1 expression and pancreatic cancer immune evasion”

Pancreatic cancer is a lethal disease, with most patients presenting at late stages. This leads to a mortality rate that is very close to the incidence rate (1). The current 5-year survival rate is 8% and the American Cancer Society estimates that 40,000 Americans will die from the disease in 2017. Current treatments, including chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, are insufficient and efforts have been turned to newer options such as immune checkpoint blockade therapy.