If you have been impacted by pancreatic cancer, whether you have received the diagnosis yourself or a loved one is battling this disease, you may already know that pancreatic cancer is considered difficult to treat traditionally. Standard chemotherapy and radiation, though used in treating pancreatic cancer, often have a relatively low success rate because of the nature and aggressiveness of the tumors. However, researchers and doctors alike are constantly striving to find bigger and better ways to treat pancreatic cancer. There are some treatment options for pancreatic cancer that are relatively new as well as potential options that are currently in development. Get to know more about some of these options so you can be sure you and/or your loved one will get the best treatment possible going forward. 

NanoKnife Cancer Surgery

One of the pitfalls of pancreatic cancer is the fact that the tumors are rarely operable in a traditional sense. Standard surgeries run too high a risk of damaging major blood vessels and arteries that run to and around the pancreas. Because of this, most people think that all surgical options are unavailable for pancreatic cancer. 

This is not necessarily the case as there is one option that can help. That option is NanoKnife cancer surgery. NanoKnife procedures involve using a small probe into the abdomen. Through the probe, electrical current pulses will be sent to the tumor. This electrical energy works to poke holes or dents in the cells of the tumor, causing their destruction. This can shrink the size of the tumor which can, in turn, prolong life and give other treatments more time to work as well. 

For more information on this type of surgery, contact a clinic like Atlas Oncology.

CEND-1 Drug Trials

One of the latest treatment options to go into early stages of clinical trials is a compound known as CEND-1 (or iRGD in scientific circles). A challenge associated with treating pancreatic cancer is the fortitude of the cancer cells. The tumors found in the pancreas are usually solid masses, and the cells have thick walls around them made of fibrous tissue. 

Because of this extra layer of protection, it can be hard for chemotherapy drugs and radiation to get into the tumor cells to do their jobs. This new compound is meant to help with that issue. CEND-1 uses pathways that the cancer cells utilize to bring in nutrients needed to maintain and grow the tumor cells. By doing so, the compound essentially works by stealthily carrying drugs through those pathways into the cancer cells. 

This compound is currently in phase 1 of clinical trials. This means that the trial is going to remain fairly small at this time and that the main goal is to test the safety of the compound and the right levels of chemotherapy drugs to administer with the compound. However, if successful, these trials will likely move to the next phases where wider studies and trials will be performed. 

Now that you know more about some of the new and developing treatments available for pancreatic cancer, you can be sure that you stay up-to-date with all the latest developments and get the treatments needed to fight that pancreatic cancer.