Paricalcitol Lifts Pancreatic Cancer Response to 42% in 36-Patient Trial

3 articles · Updated · SciTechDaily · Jun 4

A 36-patient Dana-Farber trial found adding paricalcitol to standard chemotherapy was safe in previously untreated metastatic pancreatic cancer and was linked to higher tumor responses and longer progression-free survival.
Paricalcitol patients posted partial responses in 10 of 24 cases, or 42%, versus 1 of 12, or 9%, with placebo; five remained progression-free at one year, compared with none in the placebo group.
Tumor biopsies taken after 4 to 6 weeks showed the vitamin D analog reduced fibroblast activation and increased T-cell infiltration, suggesting it weakens the fibrotic barrier that helps pancreatic tumors resist treatment.
Oral dosing caused elevated calcium in 5 of 12 patients, but standard dose reductions managed those cases, supporting the study's primary safety goal.
Higher vitamin D receptor expression tracked with the longest overall survival on paricalcitol, pointing to a possible biomarker as researchers call for larger trials.

Sources

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Patients whose tumors had higher vitamin D receptor expression showed the best outcomes when treated with paricalcitol. Those patients responded more favorably to chemotherapy and had the longest overall survival in the

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Paricalcitol Targets Tumor Microenvironment to Boost Chemotherapy Response in Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer: 33% ORR in Latest Trial

Overview

A recent small clinical trial led by the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and published in Nature Cancer on May 25, 2026, revealed promising results for paricalcitol in treating metastatic pancreatic cancer. The study focused on combining paricalcitol with standard chemotherapy (gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel) and primarily aimed to assess the safety and tolerability of this new therapy. Results showed that paricalcitol could be safely administered with chemotherapy, with no unexpected toxicities observed. This favorable safety profile supports further investigation of paricalcitol as a potential new treatment option for patients with this challenging cancer.

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