Treatment of locally advanced pancreatic cancer with irreversible electroporation – a Danish single center study of safety and feasibility

Objectives: Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a novel non-thermal ablative technique applied in the treatment of unresectable locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC). This paper reports on the initial experience with IRE of unresectable LAPC in our institution.

Methods: From October 2013 to March 2018, patients with unresectable LAPC referred for IRE at the Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Aalborg University Hospital, were considered for inclusion in the study. Ninety-day morbidity, 30-day mortality, pain score, length of hospital stay (LOS) and overall survival (OS) were recorded.

Results: We included 33 patients receiving 40 IRE ablations in total. The median visual analogue scale (VAS)-score was four (range 0–10) two hours after IRE, and one (range 0–8) eight hours after IRE. The median LOS was one day (range 1–13 days). Post-procedural complications occurred in 21 of 40 ablations (53%), of which eight (20%) were major (Clavien–Dindo grade III or more). A proportion of the observed complications might be attributed to disease progression and not IRE per se. Although not statistically significant, we observed increased severity of complications in tumors above 3.5 cm. The 30-day mortality was 5% (2/40). The median OS was 10.7 months (range 0.6–53.8 months) from the initial IRE procedure, and 18.5 months (range 4.9–65.8 months) from time of diagnosis.

Conclusions: In our institution, IRE seems as a feasible consolidative treatment of unresectable LAPC with an acceptable safety profile. The oncological outcome of IRE in patients with unresectable LAPC is to be further evaluated in a planned phase 2 clinical trial (CHEMOFIRE-2).