Encouraging Results With Radioimmunotherapy and Gemcitabine Treatment in Metastatic PDAC

A combination of several small doses of an investigational radioimmunotherapy and the chemotherapy gemcitabine had superior outcomes compared with radioimmunotherapy alone in patients with metastatic pancreatic ductal cancer, according to phase Ib clinical trial data presented at the AACR special conference on

, held May 18-21.

Pancreatic Cancer: Innovations in Research and Treatment

One such radioimmunotherapy,

Y-clivatuzumab tetraxetan, was used in this trial: PAM4 is the antibody and yttrium-90 (

Y) is the source of radiotherapy, and they are held together by a linker.

⁹⁰⁹⁰

“The antibody binds to a protein called MUC5ac, which is a protein found on the surface of most pancreatic cancer cells, but not normal cells,” explained Picozzi. “

Y, a radioactive form of yttrium that emits radiation over a distance of about a quarter of an inch, is attached to this antibody.

“Radiation therapy is an effective therapy against most cancers, including pancreatic cancer,” said

, director of the

at the Virginia Mason Medical Center’s Digestive Disease Institute. “However, an antibody that can recognize a target found only on most pancreatic cancer cells and that can carry a radioactive source with it has the potential to kill cancer cells throughout the body, as opposed to conventional radiation therapy, which is delivered as a ‘beam’ to a specific area of the body.”

Read the report here:

⁹⁰Vincent J. Picozzi Jr., M.D.Pancreas Center of Excellencehttp://bit.ly/1hYiU0z

Source: AACR