Fig. 1

Study outline and the effect of gemcitabine on myeloid cells. a Ten pancreatic cancer patients were enrolled (E) and sampled during the first cycle of gemcitabine treatment (G), where gemcitabine was given once weekly for three weeks, followed by a resting period. Blood samples (S) were collected at day 1, 8, 15 and 29 always before gemcitabine was given that day. Patient and healthy control (HC) samples were stained for CD14⁺CD11b⁺ monocytes (b) and CD86 (c), HLA-DR (d), CD40 (e) and PD-L1 expression (f). Samples were also stained for granulocytic (g) and monocytic MDSCs (h), defined as CD11b⁺CD14⁻ CD33⁺ HLA-DR⁻ and CD11b⁺ CD14⁺ CD33⁺ HLA-DR^-, respectively. Samples were analyzed by flow cytometry. Statistical differences between HCs and patients or between sample days were assessed by unpaired t-test with Welch’s correction or Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank test, respectively (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001)