Vitamin D Analogs May Break Pancreatic Cancer’s Barrier and Boost Chemo

A small randomized trial finds that adding the FDA-approved vitamin D analog paricalcitol to standard chemotherapy for metastatic pancreatic cancer safely remodels the tumor microenvironment by reducing fibroblast activation and increasing T cell presence, with higher response rates and one-year progression-free survival observed—especially in tumors with high vitamin D receptor expression—suggesting biomarker-guided potential and the need for larger trials.