Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 5, 2026
Electrochemotherapy of Tumours
Published on: December 15, 2008
Electroporation therapy for T1 and T2 oral tongue cancer
Fredrik J Landström1, Christer O S Nilsson, Johan A Reizenstein
1Department of Otolaryngology, Örebro University Hospital, Sweden. fredrik.landstrom@orebroll.se
Conclusion:
Electroporation therapy appears to be a safe treatment achieving excellent local tumor control and very good functional results in our study and it should be further clinically evaluated.
Objectives:
The objectives of this study were to assess local tumor control, survival, and effects on speech and eating after treatment of tongue cancer with electroporation therapy, a new local therapeutic modality. In this approach intracellular accumulation of a chemotherapeutic agent is achieved by using a locally applied electrical field.
Methods:
Fifteen patients with primary T1 and T2 oral tongue cancer were treated with electroporation therapy with intratumorally administered bleomycin. Postoperative radiotherapy was performed when the tumor infiltration was 5 mm or more. The follow-up time was 24 months for the surviving patients and 20.4 months overall. The effects on eating and speech were assessed using the PSS-HN scale and voice recordings.
Results:
No local recurrence was recorded in any patient during the follow-up. Three patients died, two from progressive regional disease. Of the 12 surviving patients, 2 patients had regional recurrence and 10 patients including the 5 patients treated with EPT alone were tumor-free both locally and regionally at the last follow-up. The functional outcome for speech and eating were very good.
