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Unlike chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) or chimeric antigen receptor natural killer cell (CAR-NK) cells, which encounter limitations when applied to solid tumors, CAR-Ms combine innate tumor-homing capabilities with engineered antigen specificity to overcome these barriers. Recent studies have demonstrated encouraging antitumor activity in preclinical pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) models; however, key questions remain regarding the persistence, safety, and scalability of these models. Nonetheless, despite these uncertainties, CAR-Ms may represent a paradigm shift from immune activation focused solely on direct cytotoxicity to one that also integrates immune orchestration and tumor microenvironmental reprogramming.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.31083\/fbe45762","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]],"date-time":"2026-07-07T12:01:18Z","timestamp":1783425678000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Chimeric Antigen Receptor\u2014Macrophages in Pancreatic Cancer: Promise, Pitfalls, and the Path Ahead"],"prefix":"10.31083","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1588-8722","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Palloma Porto","family":"Almeida","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941-902, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4327-2922","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Leandro Martins","family":"de Freitas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Multidisciplinary Institute of Health, Federal University of Bahia, Vit\u00f3ria da Conquista, BA 45029-094, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"16242","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Bray F, Laversanne M, Sung H, Ferlay J, Siegel RL, Soerjomataram I, et al. 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