Research and clinical trials for pancreatic cancer
Go to Cancer Research UK’s clinical trials database if you are looking for a trial for pancreatic cancer in the UK. You need to talk to your specialist if there are any trials that you think you might be able to take part in.
Find a clinical trial for pancreatic cancer
All cancer treatments must be fully researched before they can be used for everyone. This is so we can be sure that:
they work
they work better than the treatments already available
they are safe
To make sure the research is accurate, each trial has certain entry conditions for who can take part. These are different for each trial.
Hospitals do not take part in every clinical trial. Some trials are only done in a small number of hospitals, or in one area of the country. You may need to travel quite far if you take part in these trials.
The short video below explains what it is like to take part in a trial.
Some of the research on this page has now stopped asking people to take part. But it takes time before the results are available. This is because the research teams follow up with the people taking part for a period of time to collect and analyse the information.
We have included information about these to give examples of the types of research being carried out.
Find out more about clinical trials
Research into pancreatic cancer is one of Cancer Research UK’s top priorities. This is because there hasn’t been much improvement in survival over the last few decades. Partly this is due to pancreatic cancer often being diagnosed at a late stage.
Find out more about our research into pancreatic cancer
Researchers want to learn more about why pancreatic cancer starts. And also what helps it to grow.
Some researchers are collecting samples of pancreatic tissue and blood samples from people:
with suspected pancreatic cancer
diagnosed with pancreatic cancer
who have a problem with their pancreas that isn’t cancer
They hope that looking at these samples gives them a better understanding of pancreatic cancer. And that it will help them develop better treatments in the future.
Find trials looking at the causes of pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer is often diagnosed when it has already spread. Doctors call pancreatic cancer that has spread advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer. Unfortunately, this is very difficult to treat. Doctors are always looking for better and earlier ways to diagnose pancreatic cancer.
Researchers are asking people who may have cancer of the pancreas or for samples of:
their blood
their urine
tissue from the abnormal area
They want to see if the people diagnosed with these cancers carry certain proteins. Doctors call these proteins . They hope the results will help them develop new tests to diagnose these cancers.
Other researchers are using artificial intelligence (AI) to test blood for cancer biomarkers.
Some researchers are looking at blood samples from people without cancer. And others are looking at samples from people with pancreatic cancer. They are both checking for small bits of cancer in the bloodstream. Doctors call this .
Researchers hope that testing for ctDNA can help diagnose cancer before people have symptoms.
Researchers are studying substances in the air people breathe out. They want to see if they can detect signs of pancreatic cancer in people who have one of the following:
pancreatic cancer
recently been diagnosed with
long term inflammation of the pancreas (chronic pancreatitis)
problems with their but their pancreas looks normal on scans
The researchers have developed a test to check for these substances.
For a small number of people, diabetes may be linked with pancreatic cancer.
Researchers are studying blood samples from people who are over 50 years old and their doctor has recently diagnosed them with . They want to find out if there is a way to tell the difference between:
type 2 diabetes
diabetes linked to pancreatic cancer
Knowing this will help doctors know earlier if a person’s diabetes is due to pancreatic cancer or not.
It can be difficult for GPs to know who to refer for tests with possible symptoms of cancer. This is because most symptoms are due to something much less serious than cancer. Some GPs have been using an electronic risk assessment tool (eRATS) to help them decide.
Researchers hope this tool will help diagnose people with cancer at an earlier stage. They also hope it will reduce NHS costs by not testing people who do not need them.
Find trials looking at new tests to diagnose pancreatic cancer
There is no national screening programme for pancreatic cancer in the UK. But people at high risk of developing it may be able to have regular tests. Doctors call this surveillance.
People with a family history of pancreatic cancer have a higher risk of developing it. Researchers are looking to see if regular tests can detect pancreatic cancer sooner in people with a family history.
Find out more about surveillance for people at higher risk of pancreatic cancer
Researchers are looking to understand the individual make up of pancreatic cancers. They are looking at the in the pancreatic cancers of people taking part in the study. Genes contain coded messages that tell cells how to behave. They control the growth and development of cells.
After researchers look at the cancer genes, they ask the people to join a study to have treatment. These treatment studies are looking at:
comparing a standard chemotherapy treatment with a newer chemotherapy combination
adding a treatment similar to vitamin A to chemotherapy
combining a new with a standard chemotherapy combination
Which treatments people might have depends on if:
the cancer has spread and how far
they can have surgery to remove the cancer
they have had any treatment for the cancer already
Their doctor will explain which treatment they are being asked to have and why it is suitable for them.
Researchers hope that understanding more about the genetic make up of pancreatic cancers will help doctors decide the best treatment. Having treatment based on the make up of your cancer is called personalised medicine.
Researchers also want to learn more about when, how and why people develop pancreatic cancer. And to predict who is more at risk of developing it.
Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) is a type of . Radiotherapy beams are directed at the cancer from different positions around the body. It accurately delivers a high dose of treatment to the cancer. And the tissue around the cancer receives a low dose.
Doctors use SABR to treat cancers in the tummy (abdomen). They normally take CT scans during treatment to show them where to give it. But when the person breathes in and out the scans become unclear.
Researchers are looking at using an MRI scanner combined with a radiotherapy machine. They hope this makes the scans clearer to see.
Find out more about current research into radiotherapy for pancreatic cancer
Targeted cancer drugs work by targeting the differences in cancer cells that help them to grow and survive. There are different types of targeted cancer drugs and they work in different ways.
Daraxonrasib is a new targeted cancer drug. It works by blocking proteins made by the RAS gene. These proteins help the cancer grow. Researchers found that daraxonrasib helps people with metastatic pancreatic cancer to live longer. They also have fewer side effects when compared to those having chemotherapy.
Researchers are now trialling it in people who have had both surgery and chemotherapy to try and cure pancreatic cancer. They want to know if daraxonrasib helps stop the cancer coming back.
New medicines need to go through a review process after a clinical trial. This is to make sure they are safe and the benefits of the treatment outweigh any side effects. Other organisations then need to approve them for use in the UK. This can take time.
Read more about how medicines are licensed and become available in the UK
PARP is an enzyme that helps damaged cells repair themselves. PARP inhibitors stop the PARP from working in cancer cells. This causes the cancer cells to die.
Researchers are looking to see how well a PARP inhibitor called saruparib works in people whose cancer has spread elsewhere in the body. They are testing it:
on its own
combined with other cancer drugs
Researchers are also looking at combining another PARP inhibitor called olaparib with the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab. They hope that adding olaparib will help pembrolizumab to work better.
Ivospemin is a new targeted cancer drug. It is a man made (synthetic) version of a natural substance we have in our body called polyamines. These help our cells grow and divide. Cancer cells use lots of polyamines. Ivospemin attaches to the cancer cells instead of the natural polyamines. This stops the cancer from growing.
Researchers are testing ivospemin combined with standard chemotherapy. They hope this combination helps people affected by metastatic pancreatic cancer live longer.
These are made up of a type of targeted cancer drug called a and a chemotherapy drug.
The targeted cancer drug attaches to a particular protein on the surface of the cancer cell. It then releases the chemotherapy into the cell which damages or kills it. This stops the cancer from growing.
Telisotuzumab adizutecan is an antibody drug conjugate. Researchers are looking at combining it with the chemotherapy treatment FOLFOX.
Find a trial looking into targeted cancer drugs for pancreatic cancer
Cancer vaccines are a type of . They help your recognise and destroy cancer cells. These vaccines are different from the vaccines used to protect us from disease.
Researchers are looking at a vaccine that contains mRNA from cancer cells. mRNA carries messages from our genes that tell cells what type of protein to make.
Researchers think they can give people who have had their pancreatic cancer removed, a small piece of the cancer’s mRNA. The mRNA will tell their body to make a protein that is the same as one in the cancer. They hope the body will learn to recognise the new protein as cancer and attack any new cancer cells it finds.
Because the vaccine is made using a person’s own cancer cells, it is a type of personalised medicine.
Read more about how vaccines can be used to treat cancer
Many chemotherapy drugs are given into a vein (intravenously). As chemotherapy goes around in the bloodstream it treats the cancer. But it can also cause side effects to other parts of the body. To prevent these side effects doctors have to give a smaller amount (dose) of chemotherapy.
Researchers are looking at using ultrasound to help get more chemotherapy into pancreatic cancer. This means less would go into other tissues of the body.
Acoustic cluster therapy uses a liquid containing very small bubbles. Doctors give this into the bloodstream with the chemotherapy and then put the ultrasound probe over the cancer. The sound waves from the ultrasound make the small bubbles grow and pulse. This pushes the chemotherapy out of the bloodstream and into the cancer.
Irreversible electroporation uses needles to pass an electrical current to the cancer cells. This makes holes in the cells which destroys them. Your doctor might call this Nanoknife.
Researchers are collecting information from people across the world who have IRE treatment for pancreatic cancer. They want to know if they had any side effects and how well the treatment works.
IRE is not a standard treatment in the UK. This is because there has not been much research into it as a treatment for pancreatic cancer. But some people may still be able to have it as part of a clinical trial.
Last reviewed: 09 Jul 2026
Next review due: 09 Jul 2029
Our clinical trials aim to find out if a new treatment or procedure is safe, is better than the current treatment or helps you feel better.
If you see a trial on our database that you are interested in, you will usually need to discuss it with your own doctor or cancer specialist.
Your treatment depends on the position of the cancer in the pancreas, how big it is, the type of pancreatic cancer, whether it has spread, if they can remove it with surgery and your general health.
Stage means the size of the cancer and whether it has spread. Type is the type of cell it started from. Grade means how abnormal the cells look. Knowing this information helps doctors recommend the best treatment.
There is practical and emotional support available to help you cope with a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, and life during and after treatment.
Pancreatic cancer is cancer that starts in the pancreas. Find out about the pancreas and how it works.
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