Cryoablation for mid- to late-stage pancreatic cancer

  Intermediate and advanced pancreatic cancer is one of the common malignant tumors of the digestive system. Because of its insidious onset, when it is diagnosed clearly, the opportunity of surgical treatment is lost due to the involvement of important structures around the pancreas or serious complications such as obstructive jaundice, and the clinical treatment is difficult and the efficacy of radiotherapy and other measures is often poor.  Cryoablation technology is one of the effective means of tumor treatment. In recent years, with the rapid update of ultrasound, CT and other precise image guidance and monitoring equipment, the indications for its treatment have been expanded.  The application of cryotherapy in middle and advanced stage pancreatic cancer is the same as other solid tumors. Under the guidance of CT, a cryoprobe is used to puncture the tumor target area and then perform 1~2 cycles of freezing and rewarming process, so that the tumor cells in the target area will be necrotic within a short period of time due to the continuous and substantial temperature change beyond their tolerance, thus achieving the treatment purpose. It has many advantages such as less trauma, accurate positioning, less side effects, rapid reduction of tumor load and up-regulation of body immune function.  The clinical efficacy can be further improved if it can be combined with local infusion chemotherapy and particle placement after surgery.