Clinical Research:
Testing Novel Approaches for Treating Pancreatic Cancer

Thanks to the support of The B. Smith Trust, Benjamin Musher, M.D. ’00, has served as the principal investigator for several early phase clinical trials testing novel approaches for treating pancreatic cancer, the third most common cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S. Conducting clinical trials is complex and time-consuming, and the endowment established by The B. Smith Trust has been critical to Dr. Musher’s success. 

“Pancreatic cancer is a devastating disease, with survival rates well below what we see with most other cancers,” Dr. Musher said. “Outcomes have improved some over the last 10 years, but most patients, even those diagnosed with early-stage pancreatic cancer, ultimately die of their disease. Pancreatic cancer is frequently resistant to traditional chemotherapy and radiation, and we desperately need better options for our patients.”   

Two of Dr. Musher’s early phase clinical trials are testing immunotherapies developed in Baylor laboratories. The first trial, which leverages both standard chemotherapy and intravenous immunotherapy to induce a powerful immune response throughout the body, has completed its first clinical phase with encouraging results. The second trial, which involves producing a personalized cancer vaccine from a patient’s immune cells and resected pancreatic cancer and using it to supercharge the immune system against lingering tumor cells, is accepting patients into the study.  

“Because immunotherapy has not proven to be effective in pancreatic cancer yet, our team is investigating newer technologies,” Dr. Musher said. “We cannot improve outcomes in this devastating disease without well-designed, innovative clinical trials and are deeply appreciative to our patients who enroll in these trials and our donors who fund them.”