Ultrasound-Guided Verteporfin Photodynamic Therapy for the Treatment of Unresectable Solid Pancreatic Tumors or Advanced Pancreatic Cancer, VERTPAC-02 Study

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: I. To show that endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided photodynamic therapy (PDT) to the pancreas is effective at direct ablation of advanced or locally advanced and small volume metastatic pancreatic tumors in a multicenter setting. SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: I. To evaluate the predictability of tumor necrosis as a function of delivered energy, based on pre-PDT contrast computed tomography (CT) scans. TERTIARY OBJECTIVE: I. Evaluate the safety of chemotherapy given two days after PDT. QUARTERNARY OBJECTIVE: I. Demonstrate that cancer biomarkers in pre- versus (vs.) post-PDT are surrogate markers of response. OUTLINE: Patients receive verteporfin intravenously (IV) and undergo fluorescence imaging and after 60 minutes undergo EUS-guided PDT. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up at 14 days, and at 3, 6, and 12 months.