PEF (irreversible electroporation) ablation + perioperative chemo‑IO delivers 75% pCR in resectable NSCLC (case series)

The VIGOR study (NCT05583188) evaluated adding neoadjuvant pulsed electric field (PEF) ablation (a non-thermal electroporation-based local tumor ablation) before standard-of-care neoadjuvant immune checkpoint inhibitor plus platinum-doublet chemotherapy in early-stage, resectable NSCLC. In 5 enrolled patients, PEF delivery to the lung lesion was feasible with no device-related serious adverse events; 4/5 proceeded to surgery with 100% resection among those taken to OR, and pathology showed pCR in 3/4 (75%) and MPR in 1/4 (25%). For context, pCR rates with neoadjuvant chemo‑IO alone in resectable NSCLC are typically ~18%–24% in Phase 3 datasets (e.g., perioperative pembrolizumab + chemo pCR 18.1%; neoadjuvant nivolumab + chemo pCR 24%), so this 75% pCR signal is far above benchmark—but in only 4 resected patients and without a control arm.