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New pancreatic cancer treatment shows 'remarkable results'

Sarasota Memorial Hospital is one of the few hospitals testing the new technique.
Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

SARASOTA, Fla. — A new experimental pancreatic cancer treatment is showing promise, and Sarasota Memorial Hospital is one of the few sites in the country trying it out.

The technique, which uses a special catheter to deliver chemotherapy straight to the tumor, is undergoing clinical trials. Tiny balloons are placed in the blood vessels leading from the tumor, keeping the chemicals from reaching the rest of the body.

The technique is being used on locally advanced pancreatic cancer cases, ones in which the tumor has grown around major blood vessels.

Sarasota Memorial is one of 19 hospitals conducting clinical trials using the catheter and has had the most participants.

Doctors Kenneth Meredith and Pedro Braceno are heading up the clinical trials at SMH. Meredith called the results so far "very promising."

He said five to six patients have joined the tests in the past six months. 

SMH was one of the first hospitals to join the testing program, and Meredith said the early results led to the hospital signing on early.

Survival rates for locally advanced pancreatic cancer cases with traditional chemotherapy is 11 to 13 months. The new technique is extending survival time up to 24 months.

Meredith said the goal is to get the tumor small enough to remove.

Braceno said if the new technique continues to perform well in tests, it could become the standard technique for treating such pancreatic cancers,

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