Modulated Electro-Hyperthermia as Palliative Treatment for Pancreatic Cancer: A Retrospective Observational Study on 106 Patients. (September 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fiorentini, Giammaria; Sarti, Donatella; Casadei, Virginia; Milandri, Carlo; Dentico, Patrizia; Mambrini, Andrea; Nani, Roberto; Fiorentini, Caterina; Guadagni, Stefano
• Is Part Of: Integrative cancer therapies. Volume 18(2019)
• Publication Date: 2019-09
• Subjects: pancreatic cancer -- modulated electro-hyperthermia -- survival -- tumor response -- gemcitabine -- FOLFIRINOX; Cancer -- Alternative treatment -- Periodicals; 616.99406
• DOI: 10.1177/1534735419878505
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1534-7354

Abstract

Background: Pancreatic adenocarcinoma has a poor prognosis, resulting in a <10% survival rate at 5 years. Modulated electro-hyperthermia (mEHT) has been increasingly used for pancreatic cancer palliative care and therapy.Objective: To monitor the efficacy and safety of mEHT for the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer.Methods: We collected data retrospectively on 106 patients affected by stage III-IV pancreatic adenocarcinoma. They were divided into 2 groups: patients who did not receive mEHT (no-mEHT) and patients who were treated with mEHT. We performed mEHT applying a power of 60 to 150 W for 40 to 90 minutes. The mEHT treatment was associated with chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy for 33 (84.6%) patients, whereas 6 (15.4%) patients received mEHT alone. The patients of the no-mEHT group received chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy in 55.2% of cases.Results: Median age of the sample was 65.3 years (range = 31-80 years). After 3 months of therapy, the mEHT group had partial response in 22/34 patients (64.7%), stable disease in 10/34 patients (29.4%), and progressive disease in 2/34 patients (8.3%). The no-mEHT group had partial response in 3/36 patients (8.3%), stable disease in 10/36 patients (27.8%), and progressive disease in 23/36 patients (34.3%). The median overall survival of the mEHT group was 18.0 months (range = 1.5-68.0 months) and 10.9 months (range = 0.4-55.4 months) for the non-mEHT group.Conclusions: mEHT may improve tumor response and survival of pancreatic cancer patients.