New Jersey Patients Receiving First-of-Its-Kind Catheter Based Pancreatic Cancer Treatment

Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center experts have successfully treated their first patients using RenovoRx’s Novel Trans-Arterial Micro-Perfusion (TAMP™) therapy platform.

A team of oncology experts at Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center, led by Gregory J. Tiesi, M.D., FACS, FSSO, have successfully treated their first patients using RenovoRx’s novel Trans-Arterial Micro-Perfusion (TAMP™) therapy platform. The academic medical center is the first hospital in New Jersey to provide TAMP to patients.

“We are using TAMP to provide pinpointed therapy for advanced pancreatic cancer,” said Dr. Tiesi, medical director of Hepatobiliary Surgery at Jersey Shore University Medical Center (JSUMC). “The placement of this special catheter is done by our interventional radiologists, it enables chemotherapy to be delivered across the arterial wall near the tumor site in the pancreas without any of the negative adverse effects that giving the drug to the whole body may cause.” Dr. Tiesi also noted the academic medical center continues to provide traditional pancreatic cancer treatments; surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and other targeted therapies, often in combination.

“After my diagnosis, and then going through multiple rounds of chemo- and radiation therapies, my previous oncologist informed my family and me that my prospects for a successful surgical resection were not good. And, if I didn’t want to have the surgery, I didn’t have any further treatment options, given my body’s toxicity levels,” said Christopher Goodwin, of Brigantine, NJ, one of the first patients to receive the therapy. The 51-year-old’s sister Jennifer assisted Christopher in finding Dr. Tiesi, so he could receive a second opinion. “I’m thrilled I’m now able to receive this advanced therapy and continue my treatment with Dr. Tiesi at Jersey Shore, close to home.”

TAMP, enabled by the RenovoCath®, is a FDA-cleared device (catheter) used to ensure precise therapeutic delivery across the arterial wall near the tumor site to bathe the target tumor, while potentially minimizing a therapy’s toxicities versus systemic intravenous therapy. RenovoCath is being used by clinical practitioners and is indicated for temporary vessel occlusion in applications including arteriography, preoperative occlusion, and chemotherapeutic drug infusion.

“Implementing TAMP therapy marks a new milestone in the personalized, precision cancer care our oncology teams provide our patients,” said Vito Buccellato, MPA, LNHA, president and chief hospital executive, JSUMC. Buccellato noted that Dr. Tiesi began implanting hepatic artery infusion pumps in patients in 2023, for the treatment of cancers within the liver, including; intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (IHCC, bile duct cancer) and colorectal cancer liver metastases, without the negative side effects seen with systemic chemotherapy.

“The ability to improve the way we localize and target therapeutic delivery to difficult-to-treat tumors may be a significant step forward in how we treat cancers in individuals, like those with pancreatic cancer who have exhausted other treatment options,” said JSUMC Surgical Oncologist Anthony Scholer, M.D. FACS, FSSO. “This innovative approach to cancer treatment not only has the potential to improve outcomes for our patients but also may preserve quality of life, which is our ultimate goal.”

“Jersey Shore remains committed to adopting innovative treatments like TAMP to enhance patient care and expand access to leading-edge, precise cancer therapies,” said Kenneth N. Sable, M.D., MBA, FACEP, regional president, Southern Market, Hackensack Meridian Health. “Our experts in oncology are proud to offer this advanced option as part of all the available, comprehensive cancer care services.” These include those offered by the Hackensack Meridian John Theurer Cancer Center (JTCC) at JSUMC; leukemia care, including bone marrow transplant, and access to novel drugs or combinations of drugs as part of phase I clinical trials.

“Our patients also have access, through the JTCC, to inpatient stem cell transplantation as well as the latest cell therapy treatments, including chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy,” Dr. Sable noted.

For information about TAMP, call 732-776-4470. For more information about cancer care services, visit www.hackensackmeridianhealth.org/en/services/cancer-care, or for a free physician referral, call 844-HMH-WELL.