A) special operational surgery technique
■ There are several treatment options for cancer with metastases, which serve to prolong the lifetime of patients. With the help of surgical operation, the patient enjoys the lifetime extension with a high quality of life.
■ For example, individualized “HIPEC therapy” for peritoneal metastasis is a treatment that sometimes prolongs the patient’s qualitative life.
■ “Irreversible electroporation” (IRE): “Irreversible electroporation” (IRE) is a soft tissue ablation technique using ultra short but strong electrical fields to create permanent and hence lethal nanopores in the cell membrane, to disrupt the cellular homeostasis. The main use of IRE lies in tumor ablation in regions where precision and conservation of the extracellular matrix, blood flow and nerves are of importance.
■ What types of cancer are suitable for IRE surgery?
■ The most suitable are patients with inoperable stage III and II pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer patient who has the tumors grown around the blood vessels and veins and therefore cannot be removed surgically. 30-35% of all pancreatic cancer patients can be helped with this IRE operation. During the operation, the doctor uses a strong current of 3000V – 10,000V.
■ But only a few experts worldwide can perform this operation. One of the experienced experts in this IRE surgical technique is, for example, Prof. Dr. Matthias Birth at the Helios Hansaklinik in Stralsund (Germany).