Research directed by Johns Hopkins showed that for patients with operable pancreatic cancers, a three-pronged combination immunotherapy treatment—consisting of the pancreatic cancer vaccine GVAX, the immune checkpoint therapy nivolumab and urelemab, an anti-CD137 agonist antibody treatment—is safe, increases the amount of cancer-killing immune system T cells in the tumors, and appears effective when given two weeks prior to cancer-removal surgery. A description of the work was published in Nature Communications.
FDA approved a first-of-its-kind device for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer. Optune Pax, developed by Novocure, is a portable, non-invasive device that delivers alternating electrical fields, known as tumor treating fields, to the abdomen.
