Advances in Clinical and Experimental Medicine

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Advances in Clinical and Experimental Medicine

2007, vol. 16, nr 5, September-October, p. 601–607

Publication type: editorial article

Language: English

Electrochemotherapy in Cancer Treatment

Elektrochemioterapia w leczeniu nowotworów

Małgorzata Kotulska1,

1 Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Instrumentation, Wroclaw University of Technology, Poland

Abstract

An electric field of high intensity changes the organization of lipids in the cell membrane, creating transient hydrophilic pores through which ions can freely permeate. This phenomenon, called electroporation (EP), greatly facilitates molecular transport across the membrane and permits enhanced delivery of biologically active molecules, such as drugs and nucleic acids, into the cell. Currently, EP is commonly used for in vitro cell transfection as the cleanest method available. It can also be applied in genetic therapy or immunotherapy in vivo. The most recent application of EP, becoming increasingly popular in the EU, the USA, and Australia, is electrochemotherapy (ECT), in which electroporation significantly increases the intracellular concentration of a cytotoxic agent. ECT applied with a drug that can hardly permeate through the plasma membrane without EP, such as bleomycin, allows localized treatment of a tumor, thereby reducing the side effects of systemic chemotherapy. In some cases, ECT eliminates the necessity of surgery.

Streszczenie

Pod wpływem silnego pola elektrycznego cząsteczki lipidów w błonie komórkowej zmieniają swoją organizację, tworząc przejściowe hydrofilowe pory, które umożliwiają swobodny transport jonów poprzez membranę. Zjawisko takie, nazywane elektroporacją (EP), pozwala na pokonanie bariery błony komórkowej i ułatwione wprowadzanie do wnętrza komórek substancji biologicznie czynnych, takich jak leki lub kwasy nukleinowe. Obecnie EP jest standardowo wykorzystywana w hodowlach komórkowych in vitro, jako najczystsza dostępna metoda transfekcji genów. EP można też stosować w genoterapii oraz immunogenoterapii in vivo. Najnowszym zastosowaniem EP, które staje się coraz bardziej powszechne w krajach europejskich, a także w USA i Australii, jest elektrochemioterapia (ECT), w której elektroporacja istotnie podnosi wewnątrzkomórkowe stężenie substancji cytotoksycznej. Zastosowanie w ECT leku, który samoistnie jest bardzo słabo transportowany do wnętrza komórki, jak np. bleomycyny, umożliwia miejscowe leczenie nowotworu, ograniczając skutki uboczne chemioterapii ogólnoustrojowej. W niektórych przypadkach ECT eliminuje konieczność interwencji chirurgicznej.

Key words

electroporation, electrochemotherapy, drug internalization, cancer

Słowa kluczowe

elektroporacja, elektrochemioterapia, rak

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