Irreversible Electroporation in Pancreatic Cancer—An Evolving Experimental and Clinical Method

• Published in: International Journal of Molecular Sciences Vol. 24; no. 5; p. 4381
• Main Authors: Gajewska-Naryniecka, Agnieszka, Szwedowicz, Urszula, Łapińska, Zofia, Rudno-Rudzińska, Julia, Kielan, Wojciech, Kulbacka, Julita
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 23.02.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Ablation; Ablation (Surgery); Antineoplastic Agents; Apoptosis; Bile ducts; Blood vessels; Cancer; Cancer therapies; Care and treatment; Cells; Combined Modality Therapy; Electric fields; Electroporation; Electroporation - methods; Enzymes; Health aspects; Humans; Immune response; Immune system; Medical prognosis; Membranes; Methods; Neuroendocrine tumors; Oncology, Experimental; Pancreatic cancer; Pancreatic Neoplasms; Pancreatic Neoplasms - pathology; Pancreatitis; Review; Treatment Outcome; immune response; pancreatic cancer; irreversible electroporation
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms24054381

Pancreatic cancer has no symptoms until the disease has advanced and is aggressive cancer with early metastasis. Up to now, the only curative treatment is surgical resection, which is possible in the early stages of the disease. Irreversible electroporation treatment offers new hope for patients with unresectable tumors. Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a type of ablation therapy that has been explored as a potential treatment for pancreatic cancer. Ablation therapies involve the use of energy to destroy or damage cancer cells. IRE involves using high-voltage, low-energy electrical pulses to create resealing in the cell membrane, causing the cell to die. This review summarizes experiential and clinical findings in terms of the IRE applications. As was described, IRE can be a non-pharmacological approach (electroporation) or combined with anticancer drugs or standard treatment methods. The efficacy of irreversible electroporation (IRE) in eliminating pancreatic cancer cells has been demonstrated through both in vitro and in vivo studies, and it has been shown to induce an immune response. Nevertheless, further investigation is required to assess its effectiveness in human subjects and to comprehensively understand IRE’s potential as a treatment option for pancreatic cancer.