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Pancreatic cancer is notoriously difficult to diagnose early. More than 80 percent of patients are diagnosed only after the disease has invaded nearby tissues or spread to other organs, and only about one in five is eligible for potentially curative surgery at diagnosis. That late detection is a major reason pancreatic cancer has one of the lowest five-year survival rates among common cancers.
First-in-human studies at the Hadassah Medical Organization (HMO), however, indicate that a new treatment called Alpha DaRT, short for diffusing alpha emitters radiation therapy, may offer new hope.
Alpha DaRT uses alpha radiation, which is different from photon radiation, such as X-rays or gamma rays, used in most conventional radiation therapy. Alpha particles are far more destructive over a very short distance: they deliver intense damage to cancer cells but travel only a tiny way in tissue, which is why they have generally not been useful for treating solid tumors. Alpha DaRT gets around that limitation by placing tiny radioactive seeds inside the tumor. These release alpha-emitting atoms that diffuse through the tumor, extending the reach of the alpha radiation while largely sparing nearby healthy tissue.
The initial results are encouraging. In 19 patients evaluated for tumor response, the studies reported a 100 percent local disease control rate. About one-fifth of patients saw their tumors shrink, while the rest had stable disease. None of the 19 evaluable patients had progression at the treated site in the pooled early analysis.
There were no complete responses in this early analysis, but researchers emphasized that even stabilizing the disease is meaningful for patients with few effective options. Some participants also experienced significant pain relief, an important quality of life improvement.
One particularly striking case involved a patient with metastatic disease whose other cancer lesions disappeared after Alpha DaRT was added to his treatment. Researchers cannot yet say whether this was an abscopal effect, a rare immune-related response, but they note that it is worth studying further.
With feasibility and early safety established, the technique is now being tested in larger studies. In April 2026, the FDA approved an Investigational Device Exemption supplement expanding the US IMPACT pilot trial, which is evaluating Alpha DaRT together with chemotherapy for newly diagnosed unresectable locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
Researchers are now focusing on three major questions:
- How much of the tumor needs to be covered for the best results?
- Can Alpha DaRT work synergistically with immunotherapy?
- Which patients are most likely to benefit?
While development and testing are still in the early stages, this represents a potentially important new tool for a cancer that urgently needs better options.
