Electrochemotherapy: from the drawing board into medical practice

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Oncology
• Medical Physics

Background:

• Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is a localized cancer treatment that uses electric pulses to increase drug uptake into cells.
• The biomedical engineering perspective is crucial for translating ECT from prototypes to clinical practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the biomedical engineering principles of electrochemotherapy.
• To discuss the transition of electrochemotherapy from preclinical studies to clinical application.
• To explore the current and potential future uses of electrochemotherapy for various cancer types.

Main Methods:

• Review of basic electrochemotherapy theory and preclinical (in vitro, in vivo) studies.
• Analysis of recent clinical publications on electrochemotherapy efficacy and implementation.
• Examination of electrode types and voltage parameters for different cancer targets.

Main Results:

• Electrochemotherapy is effective for skin tumors and shows promise for head and neck, liver, intestinal, and brain cancers.
• Specific electrode designs and voltage amplitudes are associated with different treatment sites.
• The transition to clinical practice requires addressing engineering and implementation challenges.

Conclusions:

• Electrochemotherapy has demonstrated clinical utility, particularly for skin malignancies.
• Further research is needed to optimize its application for deeper or more complex tumors.
• Biomedical engineering innovations are key to expanding the clinical use of electrochemotherapy.