A Retrospective Case Series Of High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) In Combination With Gemcitabine And Oxaliplatin (Gemox) On Treating Elderly Middle And Advanced Pancreatic Cancer

Purpose: This retrospective study was conducted to evaluate the safety and efficacy of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) ablation combined with Gemcitabine and Oxaliplatin (Gemox) for the treatment of middle and advanced pancreatic cancer in elderly patients.

Methods: Forty-seven patients with pancreatic cancer treated with HIFU and Gemox were evaluated for inclusion, and 38 cases were finally included. The primary endpoint was safety. Secondary endpoints included the response rate, the clinical benefit response (CBR), overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS).

Results: After combination therapy of HIFU and Gemox, severe complications were rarely reported, and no treatment-related death occurred. The rate of three or four-degree myelosuppression was low, and no obvious impairment of hepatorenal function was observed. Pancreatitis and gastrointestinal injury did not occurred. The disease control rate (DCR) was estimated to be 76.3%, including complete remission (CR), partial remission (PR), stable disease (SD) in 1, 6, 22 cases, respectively. And the objective response rate (ORR) was 18.4%. The clinical benefit rate (CBR) was 68.4%, with the pain significantly relieved (P<0.01). The serum level of CA19-9 showed significant changes after HIFU treatment. The median overall survival (OS) was 12.5 months, with a 6-month and 12-month OS rate of 82.13% and 59.34%, respectively. Stratified analyses did not reveal any significant difference between patients in different stages.

Conclusion: Elderly patients (≥ 60 years old) with pancreatic cancer would experience tolerable toxicity and obtain good clinical benefits from the combination therapy of HIFU ablation and Gemox.