Tumor infiltrating B lymphocytes: tumor suppressors or just bystanders?

The importance of T cells in antitumor responses is currently well recognized; however, the role of B cells in cancer immunology is only scantly probed and studied. This is presumably due to the lack of reliable models for functional analysis of distinct B cell subsets in the tumor microenvironment and their contribution to both pro- as well as antitumor immune responses. Focusing on pancreatic cancer, we wish to characterize the potential contribution of B-cells in the microenvironment to cancer control, management and therapy. Specifically, we propose to utilize novel intravital imaging modalities integrated with lineage specific B cell reporter mice to study tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) B cells in the tumor microenvironment in both mouse and human pancreatic tumors.