Clinical Trials

Pancreatic Cancer

To determine if patients are eligible for a pancreatic cancer clinical trial, the disease must be properly staged with a specialized CT scan (triphasic CT or pancreas protocol CT). This usually requires a discussion with a multidisciplinary tumor board.

After that process, the disease is classified in one of the following stages:

• Resectable (Stage 1-2: surgery is technically possible right now)
• Borderline resectable (Stage 1-2: surgery is possible, but likely need more treatment to improve chances of success),
• Locally advanced (Stage 3: the tumor can’t be removed by surgery but has not yet spread)
• Metastatic (Stage 4, disease has spread beyond the pancreas)

The current pancreatic cancer clinical trials are listed below. Find more information on clinical trials at MD Anderson.

Borderline Resectable/Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer

2019-1001 (Nanobiotix):  A nanoparticle containing hafnium oxide is injected into the pancreatic tumor which could make it more sensitive to radiation therapy.

Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer

2018-0349 (EXTEND):  This trial is for patients with 5 metastatic lesions or fewer.  Patients are randomized to receive standard of care chemotherapy or definitive local therapy (can be radiation, surgery, radiofrequency ablation, or a combination thereof) followed by standard of care chemotherapy.