Early-feasibility Aliya PEF system irreversible electroporation (non-thermal membrane disruption) in pancreatic tumors.

This early feasibility, single-arm interventional study at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center evaluates whether endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided pulsed electric field (PEF) ablation can be delivered safely and as intended to unresectable pancreatic neoplasms. Patients first undergo standard-of-care EUS-guided fine-needle aspiration (FNA) for diagnosis, then receive EUS-guided ablation on Day 0 using the Aliya PEF System, which delivers high-voltage electrical pulses to induce irreversible electroporation (cell membrane disruption leading to cell death) without relying on heat. The technology is associated with Galvanize Therapeutics (Aliya PEF platform), while Ohio State runs the clinical protocol and peri-procedural care. The key angle is translating non-thermal, structure-sparing ablation—already being explored in other organs—into pancreas via a needle-through-endoscope workflow, where collateral thermal injury is a major concern. Today’s care for unresectable pancreatic cancer is systemic multi-agent chemotherapy (often FOLFIRINOX or gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel) with selective use of chemoradiation and palliative endoscopic/biliary interventions; this study probes whether a local ablation adjunct can be performed safely in anatomically high-risk disease.