Safety and Efficacy of Irreversible Electroporation Combined with Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy for Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer: A Meta-analysis

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the safety and efficacy of irreversible electroporation (IRE) combined with neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer. Methods We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China Biomedical Literature Database, CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP databases for articles dated from the establishment of each database to March 2022. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan5.4 software. Results A total of 3970 patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer were enrolled in eight studies, including one randomized controlled trial, four retrospective studies, and three prospective studies. The patients were divided into the combined therapy group with 344 patients and the chemotherapy-only group with 3626 patients. Meta-analysis showed that the overall survival of patients in the combined therapy group was significantly higher than that in the chemotherapy-only group (OR=4.52; 95%CI: 2.63-7.77; P < 0.00001). However, no significant difference existed in the disease control rate between the combined therapy group and the chemotherapy-only group (OR=0.58; 95%CI: 0.02-18.74; P=0.76). Moreover, no significant difference existed in the disease progression between the two groups (OR=0.49; 95%CI: 0.23-1.02; P=0.06). The combination of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and IRE had no significant effect on the incidence of adverse reactions of gastrointestinal reaction (OR=0.37; 95%CI: 0.10-1.34; P=0.13) and bone marrow suppression (OR=0.61; 95%CI: 0.26-1.40; P=0.24). Conclusion IRE combined with neoadjuvant chemotherapy can remarkably improve the prognosis of patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer, and significantly prolong the overall survival.

Keywords

• irreversible electroporation
• neoadjuvant chemotherapy
• pancreatic cancer
• safety
• efficacy
• meta-analysis