Opinion Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jan 14, 2023; 29(2): 223-231
Published online Jan 14, 2023. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i2.223
Irreversible electroporation for the management of pancreatic cancer: Current data and future directions
Stavros Spiliopoulos, Lazaros Reppas, Dimitrios Filippiadis, Antonella Delvecchio, Maria Conticchio, Riccardo Memeo, Riccardo Inchingolo
Stavros Spiliopoulos, Lazaros Reppas, Dimitrios Filippiadis, Second Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens 12461, Attiki, Greece
Antonella Delvecchio, Maria Conticchio, Riccardo Memeo, Unit of Hepato-Pancreatic-Biliary Surgery, “F. Miulli” Regional General Hospital, Acquaviva delle Fonti 70021, Bari, Italy
Riccardo Inchingolo, Interventional Radiology Unit, “F. Miulli” Regional General Hospital, Acquaviva delle Fonti 70021, Italy
Author contributions: All authors equally contributed to this paper with conception and design of the study, literature review and analysis, drafting and critical revision and editing, and final approval of the final version.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Stavros Spiliopoulos, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Second Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 1st Rimini Street, Athens 12461, Attiki, Greece. stavspiliop@med.uoa.gr
Received: September 28, 2022
Peer-review started: September 28, 2022
First decision: October 20, 2022
Revised: November 13, 2022
Accepted: December 21, 2022
Article in press: December 21, 2022
Published online: January 14, 2023
Core Tip

Core Tip: Loco-regional thermal ablative techniques such as radiofrequency, microwave, and cryoablation are rarely implemented for the treatment of inoperable pancreatic cancer due to the increased risk of thermal injury to the adjacent structures. Irreversible electroporation is a promising novel non-thermal ablative modality that could provide a safer and effective ablation via the application of electric pulses to damage cell membranes and cell homeostasis resulting in cancer cell necrosis and apoptosis. Experimental and initial clinical data are optimistic, and its potential immunomodulatory effect and synergism with immunotherapy provides are promising.