Histotripsy, a Focused Ultrasound Treatment, for Pancreatic Cancer
Tests histotripsy, which breaks up tumor tissue with ultrasound, in adults with pancreatic tumours.
Key facts
- Who runs it
- The University of Hong Kong
- Where
- Hong Kong, Hong KongSee the site
- Trial code
- Registry title
- Histotripsy x Pancreatic Cancer
- Status
- Recruiting
- People taking part
- 20 people, planned
- Started
- 31 Mar 2026
- Expected to end
- 25 Jan 2028
- Type of study
- Interventional
- Treatments tested
- Histotripsy
- Record updated
- 14 October 2026
Who can take part
AI summary
From the trial's eligibility criteria. Machine-read from the registry text on this page, so it can be wrong. The registry text below and the trial team decide who can take part.
The trial is looking for adults with pancreatic cancer that cannot be removed by surgery. They will have histotripsy, a treatment that uses focused ultrasound to break down the tumour.
- Age
- 18 years or older
- Sex
- Men and women
- Disease stage
- Pancreatic cancer that cannot be removed by surgery, with or without blood vessel involvement, with or without spread to distant organs
Main reasons for not taking part
- Blood clot in the portal vein
- Not fit for general anaesthesia
- Poor general condition with limited life expectancy
- Blood clotting problem that is not controlled
- Bowel in the way, so the tumour cannot be targeted safely
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 12 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- Age ≥ 18 years old
- Fit for general anaesthesia
- Unresectable pancreatic cancer with, or without vascular encasement
- With or without distant metastasis
- Without portal vein thrombosis
- Good performance status:; Tumour visible and targetable by ultrasound with acceptable acoustic windows; Adequate hematologic, hepatic, and renal function
Who cannot take part
- Portal vein thrombosis present
- Poor general condition with limited life expectancy
- Refusal to take part in clinical trial
- Not fit for general anaesthesia
- Uncontrolled coagulopathy
- Extensive bowel interposition preventing safe targeting, per recent porcine safety data linking mis-targeting to bowel injury
Where in Hong Kong
- The University of Hong KongHong Kong, Hong KongContact: Albert Chan, MBBS, MSTaking people
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains one of the deadliest malignancies, with 5-year survival around 12% despite advances in surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Existing ablative therapies (RFA, microwave, irreversible electroporation) are limited by thermal injury risk, proximity to vessels/ducts. Novel local therapies that can be integrated with systemic regimens are urgently needed. Histotripsy is a non-thermal focused ultrasound modality that uses controlled cavitation to mechanically liquefy tissue without thermal coagulation or ionizing radiation, with precision under real-time ultrasound guidance. Preclinical and early translational work in pancreatic models shows that histotripsy can safely ablate pancreatic tissue while sparing major vessels and ducts in large-animal models, and can alter the tumour microenvironment (TME) with increased release of damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), enhanced dendritic cell and macrophage activation, and increased CD8+ T-cell infiltration in murine pancreatic tumours.
Read full original descriptionShow less
This proposal aims to evaluate the safety, local tumour control, and immunologic effects of histotripsy in pancreatic cancer especially PDAC, positioning it as a platform to enhance responsiveness to contemporary systemic therapies.
The HistoSonics Histotripsy System is now registered in the Medical Device Administration Control System from Department of Health in Hong Kong (HKMD no: 252842).
The group in the trial
- HistotripsyOther group
Histotripsy is a promising non-invasive technique that uses high-intensity ultrasound waves to disrupt tissue without damaging surrounding structures
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations
Print a page for my doctorData and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- Histotripsy for Pancreatic Cancer: a Novel Strategy for an Unmet Need
- Plain-language title
- Histotripsy, a Focused Ultrasound Treatment, for Pancreatic CancerGenerated from the registry record. The registry title is the official one.
- AI summary
- From the trial's eligibility criteria. Read by machine on 13 November 2026.
- Record updated
- 14 October 2026