Unmet Needs in Inoperable Pancreatic Cancer

Michael Chuong, MD, radiation oncologist and medical director of proton therapy and MRI-guided therapy at Miami Cancer Institute discusses the unmet needs for the treatment of inoperable pancreatic cancer.

Radiation therapy is a main part of care for this patient population as it improves tumor control opposed to just chemotherapy alone. Using this treatment for patients with inoperable pancreatic cancer has the potential to lead to prolonged overall survival and improve the prognosis of these patients.

The use of MRI-guided radiation instead of the standard CT-guided technique is currently being evaluated in a single-arm prospective study led by Chuong himself.

Transcription:

0:08 | Patients who have inoperable pancreas cancer have a pretty poor prognosis, and that hasn't changed very much in the last several years, if not several decades. This is in part because treatment tends to be effective for some amount of time, but long-term disease control remains quite poor and not achievable for most patients. This includes within the pancreas itself, as well as in other areas where tumor spread could happen.

0:35 | Radiation therapy is an integral part of care for inoperable pancreas cancer because it improves tumor control, as opposed to just chemotherapy alone. What some publications have suggested, including some from our own institution is that if we can give a significantly higher dose of radiation to the pancreas tumor, this could lead to significantly improved long-term tumor control within the pancreas tumor itself. This strategy could potentially lead to prolonged overall survival for patients, representing the first major advance and prognosis for these patients in a number of years.