A preclinical study led by the Clinical Biochemistry, Pharmacological Targeting and Therapy (CB-DDT) group at the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), directed by Dr Roser Ferrer, Head of the Biochemistry Service at the University Hospital of Vall d'Hebron, has proposed the use of magnetic nanoparticles and hyperthermia to improve the treatment of pancreatic cancer with adenocarcinoma. The aim is to penetrate the desmoplastic stroma, the layer that surrounds these cancers and acts as a barrier to chemotherapy. Overcoming this matrix and getting directly to the tumour is crucial to improving the five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer patients, which is currently only 16%.

The research, carried out in association with the Networked Biomedical Research Centre in Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN) and other national and international research centres, has been published in the journal Applied Materials & Interfaces. Based on the results obtained, a clinical trial has been launched, led by Dr Teresa Macarulla, medical oncologist at Vall d'Hebron University Hospital and head of the Upper Gastrointestinal and Endocrine Tumours Group at the Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), for patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer.

This research is part of the NoCanTher project, involving multidisciplinary experts from eleven national and international centres. The NoCanTher consortium, funded by Horizon 2020, is looking for innovative strategies against pancreatic cancer with adenocarcinoma using magnetic nanoparticles. It is estimated that 20% of pancreatic cancer patients have this condition, which is characterised by tumours that do not disseminate but cannot be removed surgically. Currently, the only treatment option is palliative chemotherapy.

The project will develop magnetic iron nanoparticles that generate heat when exposed to an alternating magnetic field (magnetic hyperthermia). The hyperthermia generated reduces the tumour volume and also induces physical changes in the cancer that make it easier for chemotherapy to penetrate. This improves the effectiveness of the treatment to the point where it can destroy tumour cells. "This demonstrates a significant synergistic effect between nanoparticle-induced hyperthermia and chemotherapy treatment for pancreatic cancer," explains Dr Simón Schwartz Jr, Director of Research and Innovation at the Biochemistry Service and co-principal investigator of the project with Dr Ibane Abasolo, currently principal investigator at the Institute of Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia.

In addition to evaluating the effectiveness of the treatment in humans, researchers will use the approved clinical trial to collect blood samples from patients to determine whether this therapy reduces the number of circulating tumour cells in the blood, particularly tumour stem cells, which can give rise to new cancer cells and metastasise. Although this is a relatively new area of research, in cases where external beam radiotherapy can cause higher rates of toxicity, this approach could be a viable option for treating cancer patients, especially those for whom standard treatment is ineffective.