Irreversible electroporation for liver metastasis from pancreatic cancer: A case report

BACKGROUND: Pancreatic cancer has a poor prognosis; 40%–50% of patients have liver metastases at the time of initial diagnosis and only 15%–20% undergo surgical resection. Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a new, non-thermal local ablation method for solid tumors, which can induce cell membrane permeabilization, resulting in unrecoverable nanoscale perforation and apoptotic cell death without damaging the structural components of tissues. CASE SUMMARY: We report the case of a 66-year-old female patient with liver metastasis from pancreatic cancer with a pathological diagnosis of poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. Carbohydrate antigen 19-9 was elevated to 420.3 U/mL. Computed tomography showed a pancreas mass of 2.7 cm × 2.5 cm and single liver metastasis of 1.4 cm × 1.1 cm in the S6 area. The patient underwent IRE and arterial infusion chemotherapy and received tegafur. The therapeutic effect of the combination treatment has been evaluated as complete response. To date, the patient has survived for > 12 mo and is receiving tegafur as maintenance therapy (at the time this case report was written). CONCLUSION: IRE plus arterial infusion chemotherapy and tegafur may be synergistic, providing a reference for treating liver metastasis from pancreatic cancer.