English translation of an article originally published in Italian by Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS on 1 October 2026.
Rome, October 1st 2026 – For the first time in the world, a woman with unresectable locally advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (LA-PDAC) has undergone locoregional percutaneous radiotherapy, in which a special radioactive biological glue containing Yttrium-90 particles that emit beta radiation was injected directly into the tumor (YntraDose®, produced by BetaGlue Therapeutics, an Italian start-up).
The procedure was performed at Gemelli by Professor Roberto Iezzi, Director of Interventional Radiology at Fondazione Policlinico Gemelli, as part of an international trial (Principal Investigator: Professor Giampaolo Tortora, Director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Fondazione Policlinico Gemelli) evaluating the efficacy of the YntraDose device as a neoadjuvant treatment in this patient population.
It is a percutaneous radiation therapy – the product is injected into the tumor lesion with a special needle, under ultrasound or CT/CBCT guidance – that aims to make patients eligible for surgery. Eligibility for this treatment was discussed by the multidisciplinary team of Gemelli’s pancreas tumor board, in the presence of Professors Sergio Alfieri, Antonio Gasbarrini and Giampaolo Tortora.
The minimally invasive percutaneous procedure, performed on a 63-year-old woman under local anesthesia and minimal sedation, lasted one hour, with no post-operative complications. Follow-up Yttrium-90 (Y90) PET-CT scans performed 24 hours and 7 days after the procedure showed correct deposition of the radioactive product within the pancreas, with no dispersion and no areas of off-target uptake.
The procedure was made possible by the collaboration of interventional radiologists, nuclear medicine physicians, medical physicists (for dose management) and radiation oncologists, who managed the patient before and after the procedure.
The open-label, multicenter YntraDose® study involves three countries: Italy, Belgium and the United Kingdom. The case treated at Gemelli is the very first. Patient enrollment is ongoing; the next cases will be treated in October.
YntraDose® is an investigational device and is not approved for commercial use.
Source: Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS – original article (in Italian), by Maria Rita Montebelli. Photo: Professor Roberto Iezzi, courtesy of Policlinico Gemelli.
