Aug. 26, 2025 — In a quest for ever-more-effective treatments for pancreatic cancer, HonorHealth Research Institute is combining the power of targeted drugs and ultra-sound technology to shrink the tumors of patients whose cancer has not spread to other parts of the body but is too advanced to allow safe surgical removal.
Acoustic Cluster Therapy (ACT) uses tiny clusters of gas bubbles and oil droplets that make up PS101, which is combined with a modified version of FOLFIRINOX, an FDA-approved combination of four drugs: leucovorin calcium (folinic acid), fluorouracil, irinotecan hydrochloride, and oxaliplatin.
In this relatively small pilot clinical trial, HonorHealth Research Institute was the first site in the world to administer this treatment in pancreatic cancer.
The agent PS101 is infused into the bloodstream. High-frequency ultrasound is then applied in and around the pancreas tumor, causing PS101 to form larger ACT bubbles that are temporarily lodged in capillaries, the ultra-small blood vessels throughout the body where the fuel of oxygen is exchanged for the waste of carbon dioxide.
The high-frequency ultrasound is followed by low-frequency ultrasound, which induces oscillation of the lodged ACT bubbles, enhancing the delivery of the chemotherapy directly to the cancer. The gas bubbles eventually dissolve into the blood.
“This process increases the amount of drug that reaches the tumor, increasing its effectiveness, without increasing the amount of drug affecting the rest of the body, where it potentially could cause systemic toxicity,” said Erkut Borazanci, M.D., medical director of the Research Institute’s Oncology Research Division. “If the patient’s tumor shrinks, these patients then might be candidates for surgical removal of the tumor, which gives them the best chance for survival.”
Dr. Borazanci is quick to praise the teamwork of the oncology researchers working with an interventional radiology team, the personnel who run the ultra-sound and imaging equipment; ultra-sonographers and radiographers: “It's not just a simple infusion. You're getting all these other doctors and technicians involved to help the patients. I really appreciate what they're doing.”
On average, pancreatic cancer patients with locally advanced tumors have a modest survival of only 14-20 months, said Dr. Borazanci, who nevertheless is hopeful for his patients in this study, which follows the success treating liver cancer that started from colorectal cancer using ACT, which is made by EXACT Therapeutics based in Oslo, Norway.
Institute personnel (Erin Pierce, Matt Siegel, Katie Morgan, S. Danielle Legrand and Dr. Borazanci) along with the makers of ACT are presenting their study with a poster abstract presentation at an upcoming scientific conference, “Advances in Pancreatic Cancer Research — Emerging Science Driving Transformative Solutions,” Sept. 28-Oct. 1 in Boston, sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).
“This cutting-edge and innovative treatment approach immediately stood out to us, as it reflects the level of care and innovation we strive to deliver at HonorHealth Research Institute,” said Erin Pierce, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, a Nurse Practitioner and Associate Clinical Investigator, who is the lead author of the abstract. “It offers real potential to provide patients with borderline and locally advanced pancreatic cancer a path to qualify for a curative surgery.”
Learn more at: HonorHealth.com/research.
November 21, 2025 
