Cancers 2010, 2(3), 1419-1431; doi:10.3390/cancers2031419
Review

The Problems of Radiofrequency Ablation as an Approach for Advanced Unresectable Ductal Pancreatic Carcinoma

Raffaele Pezzilli 1,* email, Claudio Ricci 2 email, Carla Serra 1 email, Riccardo Casadei 2 email, Francesco Monari 2 email, Marielda D’Ambra 2 email, Roberto Corinaldesi 1 email and Francesco Minni 2 email
1 Department of Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, S. Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy 2 Department of Surgery, S. Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 8 June 2010; in revised form: 28 June 2010 / Accepted: 30 June 2010 / Published: 1 July 2010
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Abstract: Advanced ductal pancreatic carcinoma (PC) remains a challenge for current surgical and medical approaches. It has recently been claimed that radiofrequency ablation (RFA) may be beneficial for patients with locally advanced or metastatic PC. Using the MEDLINE database, we found seven studies involving 106 patients in which PC was treated using RFA. The PC was mainly located in the pancreatic head (66.9%) with a median size of 4.6 cm. RFA was carried out in 85 patients (80.1%) with locally advanced PC and in 21 (19.9%) with metastatic disease. Palliative surgical procedures were carried out in 41.5% of the patients. The average temperature used was 90 °C (with a temperature range of 30–105 °C) and the ratio between the number of passes of the probe and the size of the tumor in centimeters was 0.5 (range of 0.36–1). The median postoperative morbidity and mortality were 28.3% and 7.5%, respectively; the median survival was 6.5 months (range of 1–33 months). In conclusion, RFA is a feasible technique: however, its safety and long-term results are disappointing; Thus, the RFA procedure should not be recommended in clinical practice for a PC patient.
Keywords: pancreatic neoplasms; catheter ablation; surgery

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Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Pezzilli, R.; Ricci, C.; Serra, C.; Casadei, R.; Monari, F.; D’Ambra, M.; Corinaldesi, R.; Minni, F. The Problems of Radiofrequency Ablation as an Approach for Advanced Unresectable Ductal Pancreatic Carcinoma. Cancers 2010, 2, 1419-1431.

AMA Style

Pezzilli R, Ricci C, Serra C, Casadei R, Monari F, D’Ambra M, Corinaldesi R, Minni F. The Problems of Radiofrequency Ablation as an Approach for Advanced Unresectable Ductal Pancreatic Carcinoma. Cancers. 2010; 2(3):1419-1431.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Pezzilli, Raffaele; Ricci, Claudio; Serra, Carla; Casadei, Riccardo; Monari, Francesco; D’Ambra, Marielda; Corinaldesi, Roberto; Minni, Francesco. 2010. "The Problems of Radiofrequency Ablation as an Approach for Advanced Unresectable Ductal Pancreatic Carcinoma." Cancers 2, no. 3: 1419-1431.

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