A preliminary study found that using “targeted radiation during surgery” helped investigators lower pancreatic cancer recurrence rates to 5%.
The targeted radiation method is meant to “eliminate pancreatic cancer cells that have spread to areas around the pancreas,” which is what makes it difficult to surgically remove tumors in many patients with the disease. This study enrolled “20 patients with borderline resectable or locally advanced pancreatic cancer. Patients received presurgical chemotherapy and radiation targeted to shrink the tumors away from the blood vessels. Then, during surgery to remove their tumors, patients received another dose of precisely targeted radiation using a robotic device that carries small radioactive beads inserted through catheters. The device enabled the team to pinpoint a triangular area near the pancreas, where recurrences commonly occur.”
Only one of the 20 patients “experienced a recurrence around the pancreas at the 24-month mark – a major achievement for a cancer that, until recently, had lagged behind other cancers in treatment success.”
When most pancreatic cancers are diagnosed, the tumors have already “spread to affect important blood vessels around the pancreas,” making it impossible for patients to undergo surgical removal. Even when they were able to have surgery, recurrence rates remined high. This research team found that “pancreatic cancer cells were spreading along nerves near the pancreas to a fatty, nerve-dense triangular area just above the pancreas.” Targeting this area dropped recurrence rates.
