Intraoperative radiotherapy for pancreatic carcinoma. Experimental and clinical studies.

ABSTRACT

Intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) is an innovative treatment approach that has been tested in several Phase I-II studies and small Phase III trials in patients with resectable and unresectable pancreatic cancer. The technical approach and dose guidelines for adjacent normal tissues have been established in a series of experiments using a large animal (canine) model. This article reviews the experimental and clinical studies of IORT in cancer of the pancreas.