Good Samaritan Hospital has started treating patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer using the RenovoCath,™ a novel catheter that was developed for targeted delivery of fluids to selected sites in the peripheral vascular system. The device provides direct, local delivery of chemotherapy to the pancreas; this targeted approach to therapy may help pancreatic cancer patients who were previously not candidates for surgery by reducing their tumor size and potentially providing a surgical option. Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose is one of the first sites in the country to offer this pioneering procedure.
“I am hopeful this device will help patients suffering from pancreatic cancer, who otherwise have very limited options,” said Dr. Reza Malek, Interventional Radiologist at Good Samaritan Hospital. “There is a much better chance for successful outcomes when we are able to treat the tumor directly.”
Dr. Malek, is one of a handful of physicians in the country with experience with this catheter and performed the procedure in the very first patient in the United States last year. Since then, dozens of patients have been treated in multiple centers across the country.
According to the National Institute of Health, nearly 50,000 Americans were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2015. Many therapeutic agents, including chemotherapy, have proven to be less effective when delivered systemically for cancer of the pancreas. The RenovoCath delivers chemotherapy directly to the pancreas via the arteries that feed the tumor. The catheter is inserted into the patient and threaded through the vascular system to the arteries that feed the tumor. Two tiny balloons are inflated to prevent the flow of blood in and out of the artery, allowing doctors to administer a local intra-arterial infusion of chemotherapy directly to the pancreatic tumor, while potentially preventing an outflow of chemotherapy to other organs. Benefits of a local intra- arterial chemotherapy infusion, in contrast to systemic IV infusions, potentially include reduced bone marrow suppression and fatigue, and fewer gastrointestinal problems such as nausea; and a greater tumor response is expected.
For more information about this treatment at Good Samaritan Hospital please contact Ursula Kelly-Tolley at 408-559-2209.
About Good Samaritan Hospital
Good Samaritan Hospital is a 474 bed acute care hospital in the heart of Silicon Valley, California. Good Samaritan is recognized as a leader in neurosciences, high risk obstetrics, comprehensive cancer services, advanced cardiology and innovative surgery techniques.
It was the first of five in the country to become a Stroke Certified Hospital, and now holds the Joint Commission’s advanced certification as a Comprehensive Stroke Center. It has been awarded the Stroke Gold Plus Performance Achievement Award from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.
Good Samaritan is only one of fourteen hospitals to be awarded four consecutive times with the Outstanding Achievement Award from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. Through leadership in research and by adopting the latest technological clinical practices, Good Samaritan Hospital offers excellent medical care for the people of Silicon Valley and surrounding counties. www.goodsamsanjose.com
About RenovoRx
RenovoRx (www.renovorx.com) has developed the RenovoCath RC120 catheter, which is specifically designed for the isolation of blood flow and delivery of fluids, including diagnostic material and therapeutic agents, into selected sites in the peripheral vascular system. The ability to deliver these materials at high concentration to specific vasculature, safely and without perfusion overlap to other regions, is a central paradigm of the company’s technology. The company’s first product to market is the RenovoCath™, which is currently being introduced in the U.S. RenovoRx is an early stage startup based in Silicon Valley, California, and its top financial backers include Golden Seeds, Astia Angels, Sand Hill Angels, The Angels' Forum and The Halo Fund III, L.P.