Irreversible electroporation for locally advanced pancreatic cancer

Abstract

Aim. To assess overall survival and recurrence-free period in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer who underwent irreversible electroporation of the tumor in combination with chemotherapy. Matherials and methods. It was performed a prospective analysis of overall survival in 23 patients who underwent irreversible electroporation of unresectable pancreatic cancer for the period from May 2012 to March 2017. Control group consisted of 35 patients with pancreatic cancer stage III who received standard chemotherapy alone. Results. Mean age of patients was 61 years (range 45–80). All procedures were successful. Fifteen patients had pancreatic head cancer, 8 – cancer of pancreatic body. Preoperative chemotherapy has been applied in 20 (86.9%) patients for 4 months prior to surgery on the average. Seventeen (73%) patients underwent chemotherapy after electroporation procedure. 90-day mortality was 4.3% (n = 1) in electroporation group. Surgery was followed by improved local recurrence-free survival (12 and 6 months, respectively, p = 0.01) and distant recurrence-free survival (15 and 8 months, respectively, p = 0.03). Overall survival was 18 and 11 months, respectively (p = 0.03). Conclusion. Irreversible electroporation of locally advanced pancreatic cancer is safe. Four-month chemotherapy followed by surgical procedure is associated with good local response and better overall survival compared with chemotherapy alone. These data will be validated in further multicenter study.