ICCA CancerCare Reports Remarkable Tumor Reduction in Pancreatic Cancer Patient

ICCA CancerCare has reported a remarkable case of treatment success in a patient with advanced pancreatic cancer. The patient, a 56-year-old man, experienced a significant reduction in tumor volume and substantial internal necrosis, achieving a 90% volume reduction without undergoing surgery or full-dose chemotherapy.

The patient's cancer had progressed over 17 months following three cycles of gemcitabine, a common chemotherapy treatment. Despite the failure of the initial therapy, the patient was enrolled in a treatment program administered at COFEPRIS-licensed facilities in Tijuana, Baja California. The treatment regimen included fractionated radiotherapy with radiosensitizing-dose capecitabine, image-guided intratumoral injection of an EpCAM/CD3 bispecific T-cell-engaging antibody, infusions of allogeneic natural killer cells and autologous lymphocytes, cord blood-derived mesenchymal stromal cells, and sequential pembrolizumab.

The patient's tumor, initially measuring 101.3 × 93.7 mm, had reduced to 87 × 72.9 mm by May 13, 2026, marking a 33% reduction in cross-sectional area and a 90% reduction in volume. Moreover, a follow-up PET/CT several months after the treatment showed only faint residual activity in the pancreatic head with no evidence of metastasis. Notably, the patient's tumor had liquefied and drained through his existing biliary catheter, a pattern of response not typically associated with radiation therapy alone.

Dr. Hebert Schramm, Chief Medical Officer of ICCA CancerCare and corresponding author of the peer-reviewed case report, commented, "A tumor that had progressed through first-line chemotherapy liquefied and drained. That pattern of response is not typical of radiation alone, and it suggests intratumoral immune engagement may open options where standard therapy has failed."

This case study, which was accepted for publication, is the first to document the use of an EpCAM/CD3 T-cell engagement strategy in achieving a clinically evident tumor lysis in pancreatic cancer. While the treatment described is administered in Mexico under COFEPRIS authorization, it is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The report emphasizes that this case is not a broad indication of safety or efficacy and that individual results may vary. Nonetheless, it highlights the potential for innovative intratumoral immune engagement strategies in treating refractory cancers.