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Updated: Sep 28, 2026
Multianimal Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Tumor Measurements in Pancreatic Cancer Mouse Models
Published on: February 3, 2026
[Intra-arterial chemotherapy with gemcitabine (GEM) for unresectable pancreatic cancer]
Hiroyuki Horiuchi1, Hiroto Ishikawa, Mamoru Hiraki
1Dept. of Surgery, Kurume School of Medicine.
Purpose:
Most patients with pancreatic cancer are unresectable because of local invasion and liver metastasis at the time of diagnosis. To date, no treatment has had a significant impact on this disease. To deliver a high concentration of drug to the cancer, intra-arterial chemotherapy with GEM was performed in two patients with unresectable advanced cancer.
Patients And Methods:
One patient, a 70-year-old man with liver metastasis, was treated with arterial infusion of GEM 1,000 mg/body. Another patient, a 55-year-old woman with local invasion and distant metastatic lymphadenopathy, was given intra-arterial infusion of GEM 400 mg and intra-venous infusion of GEM 1,000 mg/body. The patients were given GEM weekly for 3 weeks followed by a week of rest.
Results:
In the first patient, the pain went away and CEA was decreased for 6 months. After that, the patient died due to intra-abdominal dissemination within 4 months. In the other patient, the pain went away. Tumor markers, such as CEA and CA19-9, were normalized and primary pancreatic cancer was reduced locally. The patient currently has a metastatic liver tumor, but she has had a significant improvement in performance status.
Conclusion:
Intra-arterial chemotherapy with GEM may be tolerated in patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer.
