Researchers at the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center have started clinical trials using an aggressive treatment approach to treat pancreatic cancer, according to a UNMHSC press release.
The clinical trials combine the latest in chemotherapy and radiation treatment with immunotherapy, a novel treatment which harnesses the body's immune system to help fight cancer, according to the press release.
“The hope is that the combination of the most potent chemotherapy, radiation therapy and immunotherapy will help make patients who were previously considered non-surgical able to undergo curative surgery," the statement quoted UNM oncologist Gregory Gan, who is the trial’s principal investigator, as saying.
According to the press release UNM is one of the few academic medical centers that offer the trial nationwide.
“This clinical trial uses innovative therapies and a unique approach,” the statement quoted Olivier Rixe, who oversees clinical trials at the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center, as saying. “We are one of the few centers to offer this clinical trial and one of very few centers that can combine the technologies that this trial requires,” Rixe was quoted in the release.
Sayyed Shah is the assistant news editor at the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @mianfawadshah.
