TITLE:
Radiofrequency Ablation of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma: An Evolving Comrade?
AUTHORS:
Panayiotis Hadjicostas, Demetris Christou, Anastasios Christodoulou
KEYWORDS:
Pancreatic Cancer, Radiofrequency Ablation, Locally Advanced, Surgery
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Cancer Therapy,
Vol.7 No.13,
December
23,
2016
ABSTRACT: Background: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC)
presents a challenge for the surgeon due to its aggressiveness and to the
stagnation of the management options in cases where complete resection is not
feasible. Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in PDAC is described by a few studies as a promising technique. Methods: We present our
12 years’ experience in locally advanced unresectable PDAC with a series of 19
patients. The mean age was 66.8 years. The mean tumour diameter was 8.1 cm. In all patients, RFA
was performed during laparotomy using Cooltip©, in some with IOUS monitoring,
followed by palliative bypass procedures. Results: The postoperative period was
relatively uneventful. A repeat CT showed remarkable changes in the size and
morphology of the tumour. We observed significant improvement in pain relief.
The mean survival with the RFA was 19.3 months (6 - 30 months). Conclusions: Our series suggest that RFA for locally advanced
and unresectable PDAC in carefully selected patients (excluding multifocal
disease) presents a promising, effective and safe associate for the surgeon.
RFA plays a complimentary role to current standard palliative therapy, which
may prolong survival and improve quality of life. Whether the laparoscopic
approach or other non-invasive methods are feasible, will be a challenge for
the following years.