0:00:02.151,0:00:03.568
By raising your hand,

0:00:03.592,0:00:07.207
how many of you know[br]at least one person on the screen?

0:00:08.367,0:00:10.234
Wow, it's almost a full house.

0:00:10.258,0:00:12.815
It's true, they are very famous[br]in their fields.

0:00:12.839,0:00:15.834
And do you know what[br]all of them have in common?

0:00:15.858,0:00:18.778
They all died of pancreatic cancer.

0:00:18.802,0:00:21.310
However, although it's very,[br]very sad this news,

0:00:21.334,0:00:24.098
it's also thanks to their personal stories

0:00:24.122,0:00:28.243
that we have raised awareness[br]of how lethal this disease can be.

0:00:28.267,0:00:31.643
It's become the third cause[br]of cancer deaths,

0:00:31.667,0:00:37.193
and only eight percent of the patients[br]will survive beyond five years.

0:00:37.217,0:00:39.136
That's a very tiny number,

0:00:39.160,0:00:41.916
especially if you compare it[br]with breast cancer,

0:00:41.940,0:00:45.380
where the survival rate[br]is almost 90 percent.

0:00:45.946,0:00:48.313
So it doesn't really come as a surprise

0:00:48.337,0:00:50.802
that being diagnosed[br]with pancreatic cancer

0:00:50.826,0:00:54.077
means facing an almost[br]certain death sentence.

0:00:54.101,0:00:57.747
What's shocking, though,[br]is that in the last 40 years,

0:00:57.771,0:01:00.149
this number hasn't changed a bit,

0:01:00.173,0:01:02.277
while much more progress has been made

0:01:02.301,0:01:03.988
with other types of tumors.

0:01:04.552,0:01:08.212
So how can we make pancreatic cancer[br]treatment more effective?

0:01:08.659,0:01:10.565
As a biomedical entrepreneur,

0:01:10.589,0:01:13.608
I like to work on problems[br]that seem impossible,

0:01:13.632,0:01:15.693
understanding their limitations

0:01:15.717,0:01:18.789
and trying to find new,[br]innovative solutions

0:01:18.813,0:01:20.644
that can change their outcome.

0:01:21.035,0:01:23.612
The first piece of bad news[br]with pancreatic cancer

0:01:23.636,0:01:27.107
is that your pancreas is in the middle[br]of your belly, literally.

0:01:27.131,0:01:29.966
It's depicted in orange on the screen.

0:01:29.990,0:01:31.637
But you can barely see it

0:01:31.661,0:01:34.621
until I remove all the other[br]organs in front.

0:01:35.093,0:01:38.089
It's also surrounded[br]by many other vital organs,

0:01:38.113,0:01:41.225
like the liver, the stomach,[br]the bile duct.

0:01:41.249,0:01:44.662
And the ability of the tumor[br]to grow into those organs

0:01:44.686,0:01:46.708
is the reason why pancreatic cancer

0:01:46.732,0:01:49.664
is one of the most painful tumor types.

0:01:50.295,0:01:53.457
The hard-to-reach location[br]also prevents the doctor

0:01:53.481,0:01:55.200
from surgically removing it,

0:01:55.224,0:01:58.259
as is routinely done[br]for breast cancer, for example.

0:01:58.716,0:02:02.100
So all of these reasons leave[br]chemotherapy as the only option

0:02:02.124,0:02:04.267
for the pancreatic cancer patient.

0:02:04.745,0:02:07.198
This brings us to the second[br]piece of bad news.

0:02:07.579,0:02:11.187
Pancreatic cancer tumors have[br]very few blood vessels.

0:02:11.624,0:02:15.410
Why should we care[br]about the blood vessel of a tumor?

0:02:15.434,0:02:18.900
Let's think for a second[br]how chemotherapy works.

0:02:18.924,0:02:20.813
The drug is injected in the vein

0:02:20.837,0:02:25.481
and it navigates throughout the body[br]until it reaches the tumor site.

0:02:25.505,0:02:29.680
It's like driving on a highway,[br]trying to reach a destination.

0:02:30.080,0:02:33.965
But what if your destination[br]doesn't have an exit on the highway?

0:02:33.989,0:02:35.618
You will never get there.

0:02:35.642,0:02:37.764
And that's exactly the same problem

0:02:37.788,0:02:40.481
for chemotherapy and pancreatic cancer.

0:02:41.119,0:02:43.964
The drugs navigate[br]throughout all of your body.

0:02:43.988,0:02:46.401
They will reach healthy organs,

0:02:46.425,0:02:50.232
resulting in high toxic effect[br]for the patients overall,

0:02:50.256,0:02:52.771
but very little will go to the tumor.

0:02:52.795,0:02:55.223
Therefore, the efficacy is very limited.

0:02:56.519,0:03:01.333
To me, it seems very counterintuitive[br]to have a whole-body treatment

0:03:01.357,0:03:03.621
to target a specific organ.

0:03:03.645,0:03:06.097
However, in the last 40 years,

0:03:06.121,0:03:10.445
a lot of money, research[br]and effort have gone towards

0:03:10.469,0:03:14.552
finding new, powerful drugs[br]to treat pancreatic cancer,

0:03:14.576,0:03:16.987
but nothing has been done[br]in changing the way

0:03:17.011,0:03:19.074
we deliver them to the patient.

0:03:20.397,0:03:22.023
So after two pieces of bad news,

0:03:22.047,0:03:25.076
I'm going to give you[br]good news, hopefully.

0:03:25.806,0:03:27.276
With a collaborator at MIT

0:03:27.300,0:03:30.196
and the Massachusetts[br]General Hospital in Boston,

0:03:30.220,0:03:33.133
we have revolutionized[br]the way we treat cancer

0:03:33.157,0:03:36.500
by making localized[br]drug delivery a reality.

0:03:36.974,0:03:40.960
We are basically parachuting you[br]on top of your destination,

0:03:40.984,0:03:43.886
avoiding your having to drive[br]all around the highway.

0:03:43.910,0:03:49.200
We have embedded the drug[br]into devices that look like this one.

0:03:49.224,0:03:54.413
They are flexible enough[br]that they can be folded

0:03:54.437,0:03:56.359
to fit into the catheter,

0:03:56.383,0:04:00.179
so the doctor can implant it[br]directly on top of the tumor

0:04:00.203,0:04:02.268
with minimally invasive surgery.

0:04:02.603,0:04:06.373
But they are solid enough[br]that once they are positioned

0:04:06.397,0:04:08.088
on top of the tumor,

0:04:08.112,0:04:09.881
they will act as a cage.

0:04:09.905,0:04:13.056
They will actually[br]physically prevent the tumor

0:04:13.080,0:04:14.755
from entering other organs,

0:04:14.779,0:04:17.214
controlling the metastasis.

0:04:18.459,0:04:20.743
The devices are also biodegradable.

0:04:20.767,0:04:22.517
That means that once in the body,

0:04:22.541,0:04:24.426
they start dissolving,

0:04:24.450,0:04:29.813
delivering the drug only locally,[br]slowly and more effectively

0:04:29.837,0:04:33.320
than what is done with the current[br]whole-body treatment.

0:04:33.344,0:04:36.149
In pre-clinical study,[br]we have demonstrated

0:04:36.173,0:04:38.172
that this localized approach

0:04:38.196,0:04:42.415
is able to improve by 12 times[br]the response to treatment.

0:04:42.758,0:04:45.535
So we took a drug that is already known

0:04:45.559,0:04:49.390
and by just delivering it locally[br]where it's needed the most,

0:04:49.414,0:04:53.063
we allow a response[br]that is 12 times more powerful,

0:04:53.087,0:04:55.848
reducing the systemic toxic effect.

0:04:57.039,0:05:01.233
We are working relentlessly to bring[br]this technology to the next level.

0:05:01.257,0:05:04.104
We are finalizing the pre-clinical testing

0:05:04.128,0:05:08.207
and the animal model required[br]prior to asking the FDA for approval

0:05:08.231,0:05:09.838
for clinical trials.

0:05:10.969,0:05:16.100
Currently, the majority of patients[br]will die from pancreatic cancer.

0:05:16.124,0:05:17.959
We are hoping that one day,

0:05:17.983,0:05:21.254
we can reduce their pain,[br]extend their life

0:05:21.278,0:05:24.311
and potentially make pancreatic cancer

0:05:24.335,0:05:25.873
a curable disease.

0:05:26.257,0:05:28.977
By rethinking the way we deliver the drug,

0:05:29.001,0:05:32.758
we don't only make it[br]more powerful and less toxic,

0:05:32.782,0:05:37.567
we are also opening the door[br]to finding new innovative solutions

0:05:37.591,0:05:40.306
for almost all other impossible problems

0:05:40.330,0:05:43.604
in pancreatic cancer patients and beyond.

0:05:43.628,0:05:44.789
Thank you very much.

0:05:44.813,0:05:50.250
(Applause)