High intensity focused ultrasound treatment for patients with local advanced pancreatic cancer.

BACKGROUND/AIMS To evaluate the safety and efficacy of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) therapy in patients with local advanced pancreatic cancer. METHODOLOGY 39 patients with local advanced pancreatic cancer were treated with HIFU, including 26 male and 13 female patients. The locations of the tumours were as follows: head of pancreas in 7 patients, body and/or tail of pancreas in 32 patients. Pain relief, time to progression (TTP), median survival and complications were analysed after HIFU treatment. RESULTS There were no severe complications or adverse events related to HIFU therapy in any of the patients treated. Pain relief was achieved in 79.5% of patients. Median TTP was 5.0 months. The median overall survival time was 11 months. 6-month and 1-year survival rate for patients were 82.1% and 30.8% respectively. CONCLUSIONS Although this study may have limitations, preliminary results demonstrate the safetyof clinical application of HIFU for pancreatic cancer and reveal it to be a promising mode of treatment for local advanced pancreatic cancers.