Williams Cancer Institute

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Pancreatic cancer · Interventional immuno-oncology

A needle treatment that uses your own tumor to teach your immune system to recognize the cancer.

A gentle needle procedure that destroys the tumor and teaches your immune system to fight the cancer — for people told surgery is not an option or that treatment has stopped working.

Personalized

Minimally invasive

Immune-activating

Outpatient

In plain terms

What we do, in three paragraphs.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the hardest cancers to treat — for advanced disease, standard care usually focuses on extending life rather than achieving remission. Our approach treats the tumor directly. In one outpatient session, through a single needle, we combine ablation (destroying the tumor from the inside with energy instead of cutting it out) and intratumoral immunotherapy (immune-activating drugs injected straight into the tumor, so far more of the drug reaches the cancer). For the pancreas we use PEF — pulsed electric fields, a non-heat energy — because it can safely treat tumors wrapped around major blood vessels, where surgery and heat-based methods can’t go.
Most pancreatic tumors are “cold” — invisible to your immune system. Breaking up the tumor with PEF spills out its hidden “fingerprints” and turns it “hot”. Injecting immunotherapy into that same spot turns your own tumor into a personalized vaccine — what we call AblationVax. The goal is to trigger the abscopal effect (an immune attack on cancer elsewhere in the body) plus lasting immune memory. For pancreatic cancer we add a CD40 agonist — which “wakes up” the immune system to see pancreatic tumors that normally hide — and agents targeting KRAS, a mutation in roughly 9 of 10 pancreatic cancers long considered “undruggable.”
This works alongside your current care, not instead of it: we coordinate with your oncologist and chemo or radiation team, and support the whole patient — including microbiome optimization, since gut bacteria strongly influence how well immunotherapy works. Most patients finish treatment in about a week, as outpatients, after our team reviews your scans. Results vary, and pancreatic cancer remains a serious diagnosis requiring full evaluation.
One needle, one session: ablation plus immunotherapy delivered where the cancer lives.
AblationVax: the treated tumor teaches your immune system to attack cancer body-wide.
Real outcomes

Stage IV patients with no evidence of disease.

Standard care for stage IV disease focuses on extending life by weeks to months — not remission. We are seeing something different: multiple stage IV patients with no evidence of disease after PEF ablation combined with intratumoral immunotherapy.

Individual results vary. These outcomes represent specific patient cases and are not guaranteed for all patients.

Patient story
Stage 4 pancreatic cancer

Patient story
Challenging the odds

How it works
PEF ablation plus intratumoral immunotherapy
Where our approach fits

Treatment options by stage.

Find your diagnosis below to see what standard care offers, where we add to it, and what role our approach plays.

Resectable — surgical candidates

Standard care
Surgery plus chemotherapy.
What we add
Prime the immune system before surgery to reduce recurrence and metastatic risk.
Pre-surgical priming

Borderline resectable

Standard care
Chemo to shrink the tumor, then reassess for surgery.
What we add
PEF + immunotherapy may help convert you to a surgical candidate while activating immunity.
Downstaging + immunity
Our primary focus

Locally advanced, unresectable

Standard care
Surgery not possible when the tumor encases major vessels.
What we add
Non-thermal PEF treats safely near vital structures while immunotherapy targets disease body-wide.
PEF + intratumoral

Metastatic — stage IV

Standard care
Systemic chemo focused on extending life.
What we add
Treating the primary or metastatic lesions aims to trigger an immune attack on distant metastases too.

After many rounds of chemo, radiation, or IV immunotherapy the immune system can be exhausted — we aim to re-engage it by delivering stimulation inside the tumor.

Abscopal strategy
Beyond ablation alone

Destroy the tumor, then teach your immune system to finish the job.

Standard approaches
Our approach — AblationVax
Ablation alone: local tumor destruction with no systemic effect.
Local destruction + systemic immune activation and immune memory.
Full-body drug exposure and its systemic side effects.
Drugs concentrated where the cancer is — lower systemic exposure.

Why this approach for pancreatic cancer?

Treats near critical structures

PEF uses electrical pulses, not heat — so we can treat tumors wrapped around the superior mesenteric artery, celiac axis, or portal vein, where heat-based ablation would cause damage.

Wakes up the immune system

Pancreatic tumors normally hide from your immune system. Ablation exposes them; immunotherapy injected on the spot amplifies the response.

Aims at cancer everywhere

The investigational goal is to determine whether treating one tumor can teach your immune system to attack cancer elsewhere in the body.

Pancreatic-specific breakthrough

CD40 agonist + KRAS targeting: making the immune system see pancreatic cancer.

“Several years ago, we made a major breakthrough in pancreatic cancer treatment with a new approach using CD40 agonist — one of the first immunotherapy drugs that allows the immune system to actually see pancreatic tumors and mount an effective response.”

— Dr. Jason R. Williams

CD40 agonist

Activates dendritic cells and macrophages — “waking up” the immune system to recognize pancreatic tumors that normally evade surveillance.

KRAS targeting

KRAS mutations occur in ~90% of pancreatic cancers and were long considered undruggable. New agents and delivery methods are changing that.

The combination

CD40 agonist + KRAS-targeting agents delivered directly into the tumor alongside ablation — producing responses where they have historically been rare.

“CD40 is my personal favorite immune-stimulatory agent — the Swiss army knife of anti-cancer immune responses. One of the best examples is pancreatic cancer — many of our pancreatic cancer patients have responded well to the drug.” — Dr. Williams & Dr. Goodyear, The Immunity Solution, Ch. 5

Beyond the procedure: whole-patient support.

We optimize your entire system for the best possible response — and coordinate with the team you already have.

Gut microbiome optimization

Diet, probiotics, and related therapies to support a stronger immunotherapy response.

Off-label protocols

Strategic use of repurposed medications to enhance immune response.

Personalized cocktails

Multi-agent immunotherapy tailored to your specific cancer.

Oncologist coordination

We work alongside your current chemo and radiation team.

What to expect

Your path to treatment.

1

Case review

We review your CT, MRI, or PET scans. Dr. Williams and team personally evaluate your case, followed by a video consultation.

2

Protocol design

A personalized intratumoral cocktail — CD40 agonist, checkpoint inhibitors, KRAS-targeting agents — based on your tumor’s immune and genetic profile.

3

Procedure week

An image-guided needle delivers PEF ablation, then injects immunotherapy directly into the treated tumor bed.

4

Follow-up

Regular labs and imaging, coordination with your home oncology team, and repeat procedures as indicated.

Procedure ~1 hour

Recovery ~2 hours

All outpatient

Is this right for you?

You may be a candidate if:

✓Locally advanced or unresectable pancreatic cancer
✓Told surgery is too risky or not possible
✓Tumor encasing the superior mesenteric artery, celiac axis, or portal vein
✓Progressing despite chemo, radiation, or systemic immunotherapy
✓Looking to add immune activation to your current plan
✓Seeking options beyond your home country

It may not be suitable if:

—Liver failure
—Very poor performance status (unable to travel)
—Active severe infection
—Uncorrectable bleeding disorders

Each case is individually evaluated by Dr. Williams’ team.

Track record

Pioneering pancreatic cancer innovation since 2008.

2008

Pioneered cryoablation for pancreatic cancer

One of the most technically challenging ablation procedures, because of where the pancreas sits.

2014

Combined cryoablation with intratumoral Yervoy and Opdivo

The combination that became the AblationVax concept — destroy the tumor, then treat it in place.

2019

OX40 / CpG combination protocols described

In The Immunotherapy Revolution — with Yervoy / Opdivo / CpG / PV-10 combinations.

Now

PEF ablation with multi-agent intratumoral protocols

Including OX40, CpG and CD40 combinations tailored to the individual tumor.

Ready to move forward?

There is more ahead. Take the next step with confidence.

Complimentary evaluation.

Dr. Williams’ team will personally review your case and imaging — no cost, no obligation.

Or email info@williamscancerinstitute.com

Beverly Hills · San Jose del Cabo · Mexico City — most patients complete treatment in one week

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