Safety and efficacy of cryoablation in treating locally advanced pancreatic cancer

Table 1 General information of the 24 patients, n (%)

Characteristics	Values
Male/female	16 (66.66)/8 (33.33)
Age, mean ± SD (years)	63.25 ± 10.06
Tumor site
Head and neck of the pancreas	6 (25.00)
Body and tail of the pancreas	18 (75.00)
AJCC tumor stage
II	16 (66.66)
III	8 (33.33)
Preoperative comorbidities
Pain	20 (83.33)
Obstructive jaundice	4 (16.67)
Gastrointestinal obstruction	2 (8.33)
Tumor invasion of blood vessels
Superior mesenteric artery	1 (4.16)
Celiac trunk/common hepatic artery	4 (16.67)
Portal vein/superior mesenteric vein	6 (25.00)
Both arterial and venous invasion	13 (54.17)

AJCC: American Joint Committee on Cancer.

Table 2 Perioperative data of patients, mean ± SD/n (%)

Variables	Values
Operative time (minutes)	127.67 ± 18.79
Blood loss (mL)	70.08 ± 27.42
Cryotherapy cycle
1	8
2	12
3	4
Surgical method
Cryoablation alone	20 (83.33)
Cryoablation choledochojejunostomy	4 (16.67)
Cryoablation choledochojejunostomy gastrointestinal anastomosis	2 (8.33)

Table 3 Complications of cryoablation in 24 patients, mean ± SD/n (%)

Complications	Value
Amylase level in the abdominal drainage fluid (U/mL)
Postoperative day 1	2323.23 ± 1410.15
Postoperative day 2	1735.41 ± 978.00
Postoperative day 3	1261.69 ± 692.00
Postoperative pancreatic fistulas
Biochemical leak	14 (58.33)
Grade B	4 (16.66)
Grade C	0
Postoperative complications
Delayed bleeding	1
Gastric emptying disorders	3
Pancreatic pseudocysts	2

Table 4 Comparison of efficacy indicators before and after cryoablation

Variables	Preoperative	Postoperative day 7	P value	Postoperative day 30	P value
CA199 (U/mL)	542.10 ± 309.56	518.16 ± 297.83	0.340	159.30 + 120.79	0.001
CD4+ T cells (cells/μL)	510.91 ± 120.63	714.08 ± 229.63	0.014	811.75 ± 222.92	0.000
CD8+ T cells (cells/μL)	268.67 ± 43.05	266.33 ± 47.26	0.319	261.58 ± 45.58	0.189
Natural killer cells (cells/μL)	153.83 ± 33.25	197.83 ± 33.92	0.000	190.17 ± 36.97	0.012
TNF-α (pg/mL)	0.71 ± 0.20	1.38 ± 0.41	0.000	1.36 ± 0.33	0.000
Pain scores	5.08 ± 2.47	5.67 ± 1.50	0.189	2.58 ± 1.39	0.000
Tumor size on CT (cm)	3.79 ± 0.90			3.13 ± 0.53	0.001

CA199: Carbohydrate antigen 19-9; CD: Cluster of differentiation; TNF-α: Tumor necrosis factor-α; CT: Computed tomography.

Table 5 General information of two groups of locally advanced pancreatic cancer patients

Characteristics	Cryoablation group	Chemotherapy group	P value
Age (years)	63.25 ± 10.06	65.25 ± 9.38	0.620
Male/female	16/8	14/10	0.340
Tumor site
Head and neck of the pancreas	6	8	0.333
Body and tail of the pancreas	18	16
AJCC tumor stage
II	16	10	0.207
III	8	14
Tumor size on CT (cm)	3.79 ± 0.90	3.67 ± 0.67	0.718
ECOG physical score
0	8	7	0.625
1	11	10
2	4	5
3	1	2
NRS-2002 nutrition score
1	11	9	0.755
2	12	13
3	1	2

AJCC: American Joint Committee on Cancer; CT: Computed tomography; ECOG: Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group; NRS-2002: Nutritional risk screening 2002.