UCLA Health – Winning the Lottery with a Clinical Trial to Treat Pancreatic Cancer
Kalinda Ukanwa Zeiger knew all the grim statistics associated with pancreatic cancer, the nation’s third deadliest cancer. Still, she had pivotal moments during her treatment where she felt like she’d won the lottery. Ukanwa Zeiger qualified for a clinical trial, developed by UCLA Health faculty, that is showing promising early results for patients whose tumors must be shrunk in order to qualify for life-saving surgery.
“I needed every kind of edge I could get – it definitely provided an edge,” Ukanwa Zeiger said. “I feel like I’m going to be one of those rare survivors of pancreatic cancer.”
Principal investigators Timothy Donahue, MD, and Zev Wainberg, MD, members of the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC), said she showed an exceptional response. Ukanwa Zeiger received standard-of-care chemotherapy coupled with two experimental immunotherapy drugs. By the time she underwent surgery in 2025, the tumor was dead scar tissue.
“The cancer was completely gone when we took out the tumor,” said Dr. Wainberg, professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and co-director of the UCLA Gastrointestinal Oncology Program. “That’s the best you can get.”
Improving the Odds
Pancreatic cancer is projected to surpass colon cancer to become the second leading cause of cancer deaths within the next five years. At least half of the patients are diagnosed with advanced, stage 4 disease.
Symptoms of pancreatic cancer can be vague, and no routine screening test exists. Dr. Donahue, professor and surgical director of the UCLA Agi Hirshberg Center for Pancreatic Diseases, noted, “These tumors have been resistant to most chemotherapies, targeted therapies, immunotherapies, you name it. Because of the prevalence and burden with cancer deaths and resistance to treatment, we need research.”
Ukanwa Zeiger was diagnosed in the summer of 2024, after sharp pain led her to UCLA Health’s Victoria Shin, DO, for a walk-in appointment. Dr. Shin encouraged her to undergo an MRI and then a biopsy that eventually confirmed cancer.
Her tumor, while small, could not be removed initially because it was entangled with the superior mesenteric artery. In cases involving essential blood vessels, the standard of care is to attempt to shrink the tumor with chemotherapy.
Ukanwa Zeiger found out she was eligible for a clinical trial for patients with so-called borderline resectable tumors like hers or whose cancer is locally advanced.
“For borderline resectable, you can’t take it out right away, but you could if you have a good response to chemo,” Dr. Wainberg said. “We were asking, what if we give them chemo plus these two immunotherapies, can we do even better than chemo alone?”
The trial paired chemotherapy with two investigational immunotherapies: Zimberelimab, which stops cancer cells from deactivating T cells, and Quemliclustat, which blocks an immune-diminishing chemical called adenosine.
The treatment successfully shrank her tumor, allowing her to undergo surgery in March 2025. A pathologist found that all the cancer cells were dead, indicating a complete histopathologic response.
Dr. Donahue noted that more than 90% of the roughly 30 phase 1 trial participants became eligible for surgery. Of those who underwent surgery, 43% had no or very few cancer cells remaining under the microscope.
“If you compare that to chemotherapy, that number is just 10%,” Dr. Donahue said. “It looks like there is about a four-fold improvement in the patients that are having a major histopathological response to the treatment.”
A Trial Brings Hope
Jeanette Solano, a professor of religious studies at Cal State Fullerton, also joined the trial after being diagnosed in 2024. An oncologist elsewhere had given her a pessimistic prognosis, stating her stage 3 tumor wrapped around vital veins and arteries. Seeking another opinion, she consulted with Dr. Donahue.
“I had a video consult with Dr. Donahue and he’s looking at my scans and he says, ‘I think you are actually borderline resectable and might be eligible for a trial.’ That gave me so much hope.”
By her March 2025 surgery, Solano’s tumor had shrunk from 4.2 centimeters to 0.33. Dr. Donahue confirmed she experienced a major histopathological response. She underwent surgery to remove her tumor, resulting in a total pancreatectomy because of the tumor location and blood vessels involved. Without a pancreas to produce insulin, she is now diabetic.
Dr. Donahue said Solano experienced a major histopathological response with very few tumor cells still present.
“It’s an incredible outcome,” Dr. Donahue said. “We’re seeing it more and more with this more effective treatment. I think her prognosis is outstanding.”
Solano, now cancer-free, encourages others to consider clinical studies. “Trials are critical parts of advancing treatment,” she said. “There are no guarantees but I know they’re worth it.”
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