Pancreatic cancer has an extremely poor prognosis and prolonged survival is achieved only by resection with macroscopic tumor clearance. In recent years there has been a growing interest in ablative therapies for the treatment of unresectable tumors in various organs. Local ablative techniques have been developed to enable local control of tumors and cytoreduction, above all for primitive liver tumors, without damage of the healthy parenchyma.
Tumor ablation is defined as the direct application of chemical or thermal energy to a tumor to obtain cellular necrosis. Ablation has been performed with several modalities including ethanol ablation, laser ablation, cryoablation, and radiofrequency ablation.Numerous preclinical studies have testified the tecnical feasibility, safety, and efficacy of different techniques in ablating the pancreatic parenchyma, but there are very few clinical studies. The purpose of this chapter is to evaluate current status of local ablative therapies in the treatment of pancreatic cancer and future trends.