The Jean Ratcliff Prize

Jean Ratcliff was a successful businesswoman and philanthropist, (who amongst other things), worked to promote awareness, education, research and availability of thermal ablation for colorectal cancer patients.

The Jean Ratcliff Prize is a generously donated gift to the BSIR Interventional Oncology Special Interest Committee from the Cancer Thermal Ablation Fund within UCLH Charity.

The Jean Ratcliff Prize will be awarded each year at the BSIR IOUK Annual Meeting, for Best Oral Presentation or Poster on ablation in colorectal cancer, as chosen by the Abstract scoring committee. The prize is a travel bursary to attend ECIO or WCIO.

The winning author and abstract title will also be published each year on the BSIR Website, under the IOUK Committee page.

The 2025 winning abstract can be seen below.

A novel approach to treat colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) using combined Irreversible Electroporation (IRE) and Thermal Microwave Ablation (MWA). – Dr Peng-Kwan Ng

Aims:

MWA can be curative for CRLM in selected patients, however its usage is limited near thermosensitive or vascular structures due to potential thermal injuries and heat sink effect. IRE is an alternative, however, is less effective than MWA and carries increased risk of local recurrence.

Our study evaluates the safety, effectiveness and oncological outcomes of combining IRE and MWA in CRLM close to critical structures which are otherwise unsuitable for MWA alone.

Materials and Methods:

This is a single centre, retrospective analysis of patients who received combined IRE and MWA treatment of CRLM between 2018 and 2023. 8 patients underwent this combination treatment either under CT or US guidance. Adverse events were evaluated against CIRSE complication classifications. Primary end points were tumour response and local progression free survival. Secondary end point was overall survival.

Results:

Mean tumour size was 2.4cm. Median hospital stay was 1 day. 1/8 patients (12.5%) developed IR related CIRSE grade 1 complication which required no further treatment. Complete response (CR) was achieved in 7/8 patients (87.5%) on initial follow-up (4-8 weeks). The patient with residual disease had further ablation achieving CR. Mean follow up was 30 months. During follow up, 1 patient developed local tumour progression at 13 months. 6/7 patients (86%) remained alive 3 years post treatment.

Conclusion:

Our study is the first to report the potential of combining MWA and IRE as a safe and effective treatment option for CRLM unsuitable for thermal ablation alone.