A Phase 1/2 interventional study of Gemcitabine Delivered by Transarterial Microperfusion in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC), Borderline Resectable Pancreatic Cancer and Pancreatic Neoplasms, sponsored by University of Vermont. Not yet recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-03-17.
Sponsored by University of Vermont · Phase 1/2, Interventional, and Treatment
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an aggressive cancer with poor survival outcomes, even when treated with modern chemotherapy and radiation. Patients with borderline resectable PDAC often receive neoadjuvant systemic therapy to improve the likelihood of successful surgical removal of the tumor, but rates of incomplete tumor regression and positive surgical margins remain high.
This Phase Ib/II, single-arm study evaluates the safety and feasibility of adding trans-arterial microperfusion (TAMP) delivery of gemcitabine to standard neoadjuvant therapy for patients with borderline resectable PDAC. In this study, patients receive standard systemic chemotherapy with modified FOLFIRINOX followed by stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). After completion of chemoradiation, gemcitabine is delivered directly to the tumor through the arterial blood supply using the RenovoCath® catheter system. Gemcitabine is an FDA-approved chemotherapy drug for pancreatic cancer, and the study is evaluating a novel method of delivering the drug rather than a new medication.
The primary objective of the study is to assess the safety and tolerability of neoadjuvant TAMP-delivered gemcitabine in this treatment setting. Secondary objectives include evaluation of surgical margin status and pathologic tumor regression following surgical resection. Exploratory analyses will examine relapse-free survival. Results from this study will help determine whether this locoregional chemotherapy approach can be safely integrated into neoadjuvant treatment strategies for patients with borderline resectable PDAC.
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains one of the most lethal malignancies, with low long-term survival rates despite advances in systemic chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgical techniques. Surgical resection offers the only potential for cure; however, many patients present with borderline resectable disease, where tumor involvement of adjacent vascular structures increases the risk of incomplete resection and positive surgical margins. Neoadjuvant treatment strategies are commonly used in this population to improve the likelihood of margin-negative (R0) resection, but local disease progression and incomplete tumor response remain significant challenges.
Trans-arterial microperfusion (TAMP) chemotherapy is a locoregional drug delivery platform designed to enhance intratumoral drug concentration while limiting systemic exposure. Using the RenovoCath® catheter system, chemotherapy is delivered directly into the arterial supply of the pancreas under controlled pressure conditions. Prior early-phase clinical studies of TAMP-delivered gemcitabine in patients with locally advanced PDAC have demonstrated feasibility and acceptable safety profiles, as well as evidence of improved local drug delivery compared with standard intravenous administration. However, the use of TAMP chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant setting for borderline resectable PDAC has not been well studied.
The PRISM-TAMP study is a Phase Ib/II, single-arm, open-label clinical trial designed to evaluate the safety and tolerability of incorporating TAMP-delivered gemcitabine into a modern neoadjuvant treatment regimen for patients with borderline resectable PDAC. In this study, patients receive standard systemic chemotherapy with modified FOLFIRINOX, followed by stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), consistent with contemporary neoadjuvant management approaches. After completion of chemoradiation, patients undergo TAMP delivery of gemcitabine using the RenovoCath® catheter system. Gemcitabine is an FDA-approved chemotherapy agent for pancreatic cancer, and its use in this protocol is on-label; the investigational aspect of the study relates to the method of delivery rather than the drug itself.
Radiation therapy is included as a required component of the treatment sequence based on preclinical and early clinical data suggesting that radiation may favorably modify the tumor microenvironment and enhance retention of intra-arterially delivered gemcitabine. The intent of radiation in this study is not solely cytotoxic, but also to serve as a biological modulator that may improve the effectiveness of subsequent TAMP chemotherapy.
Following completion of neoadjuvant therapy, patients who remain appropriate surgical candidates proceed to operative resection per standard surgical practice. Pathologic assessment of the resected specimen is performed to evaluate tumor regression and margin status. Patients are followed postoperatively for safety outcomes and disease status.
The primary objective of the study is to assess the safety and tolerability of neoadjuvant TAMP-delivered gemcitabine when administered following systemic chemotherapy and SBRT in patients with borderline resectable PDAC. Secondary objectives include evaluation of intraoperative surgical margin status and pathologic tumor regression. Exploratory objectives include assessment of relapse-free survival. This study is intended to generate safety and feasibility data to inform future studies evaluating locoregional chemotherapy strategies in pancreatic cancer.
3,896 studies on the registry are indexed under Pancreatic Neoplasms; 1,007 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 10 is below the median of 47 across 2,932 interventional studies indexed under Pancreatic Neoplasms.
Browse Pancreatic Neoplasms studies →University of Vermont is the lead sponsor of 221 studies on the registry; 27 are open to participants now.
Of its 17 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 9 (53%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Borderline resectable disease as defined by the ABC classification criteria, incorporating one or more of the following:
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
The diagnosis was confirmed by looking at a sample under a microscope: tissue from a biopsy or surgery (histology), or cells from a fluid or needle sample (cytology).
Your pathology report is the document that shows this.
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
A yellow substance made when red blood cells are broken down, which the liver clears. A high level can mean a problem with the liver or the bile ducts.
Criteria often allow more for people with Gilbert’s syndrome, a harmless inherited condition that raises bilirubin.
A scale of how much an illness limits everyday activity. For people being assessed to join a study, scores run from 0 (fully active) to 4; lower is more active.
Studies most often ask for 0–1 or 0–2. Your doctor gives the score; the WHO scale uses the same steps. The full scale also has 5, which records death.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.
A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.
Histologically or cytologically confirmed
The diagnosis was confirmed by looking at a sample under a microscope: tissue from a biopsy or surgery (histology), or cells from a fluid or needle sample (cytology).
Your pathology report is the document that shows this.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Metastases
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Bilirubin
A yellow substance made when red blood cells are broken down, which the liver clears. A high level can mean a problem with the liver or the bile ducts.
Criteria often allow more for people with Gilbert’s syndrome, a harmless inherited condition that raises bilirubin.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
ECOG performance status
A scale of how much an illness limits everyday activity. For people being assessed to join a study, scores run from 0 (fully active) to 4; lower is more active.
Studies most often ask for 0–1 or 0–2. Your doctor gives the score; the WHO scale uses the same steps. The full scale also has 5, which records death.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Hypersensitivity
An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Contraindication
A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Participants in this single-arm study receive neoadjuvant systemic chemotherapy with modified FOLFIRINOX followed by stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), consistent with standard-of-care management for borderline resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. After completion of chemoradiation, participants undergo trans-arterial microperfusion (TAMP) delivery of gemcitabine using the RenovoCath® catheter system. Following neoadjuvant therapy, participants who remain appropriate surgical candidates proceed to surgical resection per standard clinical practice.
Combination Product: Gemcitabine Delivered by Transarterial Microperfusion
Gemcitabine is administered via transarterial microperfusion using an arterial infusion catheter system to deliver chemotherapy directly to the pancreatic tumor bed. Following completion of neoadjuvant systemic chemotherapy with modified FOLFIRINOX and stereotactic body radiation therapy, gemcitabine is infused intra-arterially at a dose of 1000 mg/m² under controlled pressure conditions. The intervention evaluates the safety and feasibility of this locoregional drug delivery approach in the neoadjuvant setting.
Safety and Tolerability of Neoadjuvant Transarterial Gemcitabine Delivery
Safety and tolerability will be assessed by the incidence, severity, and relationship of adverse events associated with transarterial microperfusion delivery of gemcitabine. Adverse events will be graded according to the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE), version 5.0.
Time frame: 3 years
Surgical Margin Status
Surgical margin status will be assessed on the resected surgical specimen following completion of neoadjuvant therapy. Margin status will be categorized based on pathologic evaluation as margin-negative (R0) or margin-positive (R1 or R2) according to standard institutional pathology criteria.
Time frame: At the time of surgical resection
Pathologic Tumor Regression
Pathologic tumor regression will be assessed on the surgical resection specimen following completion of neoadjuvant therapy. Tumor response will be evaluated by a pathologist using a standardized tumor regression grading system to characterize the extent of residual viable tumor relative to treatment-related changes.
Time frame: At the time of surgical resection
Pancreatic Duct Size
Intraoperative pancreatic duct size.
Time frame: At the time of surgical resection
Maintenance of Chemotherapy Relative Dose Intensity
The proportion of participants who maintain a relative dose intensity of at least 80% during neoadjuvant modified FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy will be assessed based on delivered doses relative to planned doses over the chemotherapy treatment period.
Time frame: From start of chemotherapy to surgery resection
Plan to share: No — Anonymized patient related data will be incorporated into publications and will be made available to other investigators at reasonable request.
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
Start is estimated for Dec 2026; primary completion for Dec 2030, 48 months later.
Of 94 non-industry phase 1/2 interventional studies under Pancreatic Neoplasms, half reached primary completion within 61 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 38 and three quarters within 95. This study's planned 48 months is below that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 209 studies reached it within 51 months; a quarter within 36 and three quarters within 89.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Mar 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.