On October 8, 2026, doctors at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome carried out the world's first clinical use of a radioactive biological adhesive to treat a locally advanced, inoperable pancreatic tumor. The experimental device, YntraDose, injects yttrium-90 particles directly into the tumor and is being tested in an international trial across Italy, Belgium and the United Kingdom.
Doctors at the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic IRCCS Foundation in Rome performed, for the first time anywhere in the world, a clinical procedure that injects a radioactive biological adhesive directly into a pancreatic tumor, according to reports by Sky TG24 and Il Fatto Quotidiano. The procedure took place on October 8, 2026, and targeted a locally advanced ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas that doctors had classified as inoperable.
The patient was a 63-year-old woman. The intervention is part of an early-stage international clinical trial evaluating the safety and performance of the device in patients whose pancreatic cancer cannot be surgically removed, according to Il Sole 24 Ore's English-language edition.
How the procedure works
The device used, called YntraDose, was developed by the Italian biotech company BetaGlue Therapeutics. It consists of a biological glue matrix that holds radioactive yttrium-90 microspheres and is injected directly into the tumor through a needle guided by ultrasound or CT imaging, according to Il Fatto Quotidiano. The goal is to deliver localized radiation to cancer tissue from the inside while limiting exposure to surrounding healthy organs.
The procedure at Gemelli was performed under local anesthesia with minimal sedation and lasted approximately one hour, Il Fatto Quotidiano reported. No post-operative complications were reported. Professor Roberto Iezzi, director of interventional radiology at the hospital, carried out the injection with a multidisciplinary team that included radiologists, nuclear medicine physicians, health physicists and radiation therapists.
Seven days after the procedure, a PET-CT scan confirmed that the radiopharmaceutical had been correctly placed within the pancreatic tissue, according to Il Fatto Quotidiano. Il Sole 24 Ore reported that imaging checks at 24 hours and seven days showed no dispersion of the radioactive material and no unwanted uptake in other organs.
Trial scope and aim
The trial's principal investigator is Professor Giampaolo Tortora, director of the medical oncology unit and the hospital's Comprehensive Cancer Centre, according to Sky TG24 and Il Sole 24 Ore. The multicenter study spans sites in Italy, Belgium and the United Kingdom, with additional patients scheduled to be treated through October 2026, Sky TG24 reported.
The stated objective of the procedure is not necessarily to cure the tumor outright but to shrink or control it enough to make surgical removal possible afterward — turning a cancer initially deemed inoperable into one that could potentially be resected, according to Il Fatto Quotidiano and Il Sole 24 Ore.
Regulatory background
Before the Rome procedure, the United Kingdom's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved BetaGlue Therapeutics' clinical trial application for YntraDose in unresectable locally advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, according to a company press release distributed via BioSpace. The release described the study as an early feasibility clinical investigation assessing safety and performance, with enrollment in the UK planned to start in the first quarter of 2026.
BetaGlue Therapeutics is a clinical-stage oncology company based in Milan. Its chief executive, Alexis Peyroles, said in the BioSpace release that the company aims to provide a new therapeutic option for patients with unresectable, locally advanced pancreatic cancer, which he described as one of the most aggressive and deadly malignancies.
Seeing BetaGlue's technology reach its first clinical application worldwide represents a fundamental moment...
— Cinzia Marchese, president of Fondazione Tech e Biomedical, quoted by Sky TG24 and Il Fatto Quotidiano
What is not yet known
None of the sources reviewed report results on whether the treated tumor has shrunk, whether the patient has since undergone or become eligible for surgery, or any longer-term outcome data. The reports also do not specify how many patients in total are planned for the trial or when full results are expected. These details were not addressed in the Italian or English coverage available at the time of this article.
World-first procedure: October 8, 2026, at Gemelli Hospital, Rome
Patient: 63-year-old woman with locally advanced, inoperable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
Device: YntraDose, a yttrium-90-loaded biological glue made by BetaGlue Therapeutics (Milan)
Trial sites: Italy, Belgium and the United Kingdom, with UK trial approved by the MHRA
Lead clinicians: Prof. Roberto Iezzi (interventional radiology) and Prof. Giampaolo Tortora (medical oncology)
Questions
What is the radioactive glue used to treat pancreatic cancer?
It is YntraDose, a biological adhesive matrix developed by the Italian company BetaGlue Therapeutics that holds radioactive yttrium-90 microspheres and is injected directly into a tumor.
Where and when was the first treatment performed?
The first clinical use took place on October 8, 2026, at the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic IRCCS Foundation in Rome, Italy.
Who was the patient treated?
According to the Italian reports, the patient was a 63-year-old woman with a locally advanced, inoperable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
Does this treatment cure pancreatic cancer?
The sources describe the goal as shrinking or controlling an inoperable tumor enough to potentially make later surgical removal possible; none of the reviewed reports state that the treatment is a cure, and outcome data for this patient had not been published at the time of reporting.
Is this treatment available to patients generally?
No. It is being tested in an early-stage, multicenter international clinical trial across Italy, Belgium and the United Kingdom, following regulatory clearance including approval from the UK's MHRA.
How the world is telling it
ItalianItalian outlets (Sky TG24, Il Fatto Quotidiano) frame the story as a national medical first and point of pride for Italian biotech, emphasizing the Gemelli Hospital team, the Milan-based developer BetaGlue Therapeutics, and quotes from the Fondazione Tech e Biomedical highlighting the leap from research to patient care.
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