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Updated: Apr 21, 2026
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Flexible Organic Electronic Devices for Pulsed Electric Field Therapy of Glioblastoma
Published on: August 9, 2022
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Wireless Electro-Fenton Overcomes Tumor Electric Field Treatment Resistance.
Boyan Li1,2, Qingtong Wang1,2, Qinran Zhang1,2,3
1Department of Neurosurgery, Cheeloo College of Medicine and Institute of Brain and Brain-Inspired Science, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, P. R. China.
Advanced Materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
|April 18, 2026
Summary
This study reveals how glioblastoma (GBM) becomes resistant to electric field treatment by altering its metabolism. Researchers developed a novel catalyst that uses the electric field to trigger cell death, overcoming resistance and enhancing immunotherapy for GBM.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Oncology
- Materials Science
Background:
- Residual glioblastoma (GBM) cells surviving electric field treatment develop therapeutic resistance, leading to fatal recurrence.
- This resistance is driven by metabolic rewiring, specifically upregulation of GPX4 and suppression of ACSL4, promoting a ferroptosis-evading phenotype.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify the mechanisms of therapeutic resistance in glioblastoma following electric field treatment.
- To develop a novel strategy to overcome this resistance by repurposing the electric field as an energy source for a targeted chemical attack.
Main Methods:
- Integrated sequencing of patient-derived organoids and resistant models to identify resistance mechanisms.
- Developed a defect-rich double-perovskite, Ba2FeNbO6 (BFNO), as a wireless electro-Fenton catalyst.
- Investigated BFNO's ability to harvest electric energy from Tumor Electric Field Treatment (TEFT) to induce reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cell death.
Main Results:
- BFNO, under TEFT, generates a ROS storm that overwhelms antioxidant defenses, inducing hybrid lysosomal ferroptosis and GSDME-mediated pyroptosis.
- This process results in immunogenic cell death, resensitizing resistant glioblastoma tumors.
- Combination therapy with BFNO and PD-1 blockade reversed adaptive immune resistance and T-cell exhaustion, reshaping the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment.
Conclusions:
- The study establishes a strategy to convert the electric field into a biochemical trigger to overcome glioblastoma resistance.
- This approach potentiates immunotherapy by resensitizing refractory tumors and reversing immune suppression.
