Laser Light Therapy Offers Hope for Pancreatic Cancer

For patients with pancreatic cancer wrapped around vital arteries, surgery has been impossible and survival rates devastatingly low. Now, a groundbreaking clinical trial at UCI Health is changing that reality with laser light.

The treatment works like this: doctors inject patients with a light-sensitive drug called padeliporfin, then insert a tiny balloon with a laser inside the tumor-wrapped blood vessel. When activated for just ten minutes total, the laser triggers a reaction that destroys the tumor's blood supply and ultimately the cancer itself.

Dr. Nadine Abi-Jaoudeh, who leads the trial, calls the early results significant. Of six patients treated so far, four could have their remaining tumors surgically removed. Three of those four showed zero cancer cells at the surgical margins.

This matters because pancreatic cancer has one of the lowest survival rates of all cancers. Half of pancreatic cancer patients have localized disease, but two-thirds of them cannot have surgery because their tumors encase major arteries. Without surgery, their survival rates drop to match those with cancer that has already spread throughout the body.

The treatment does require three days in a darkened room afterward, since light exposure could damage other body tissues. That limitation means this therapy works best for targeted, localized tumors rather than widespread cancer.

UCI Health is one of only two U.S. cancer centers testing this vascular targeted photodynamic therapy, developed by Israel-based ImPact Biotech. The phase 1 trial is testing three different laser doses to find the most effective strength.

Why This Inspires

This therapy opens a door that was previously locked shut. Patients who faced a grim prognosis without surgical options now have a path forward. The treatment gives their surgeons access to tumors once deemed untouchable.

The team published their preliminary findings in the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology and continues enrolling patients. If results remain positive, phases 2 and 3 will test the therapy in significantly more patients after FDA approval.

For the thousands diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic tumors each year, a ten-minute laser treatment could be the difference between hopelessness and a fighting chance at being cancer-free.