Author/Editor     Serša, Gregor; Čemažar, Maja; Rudolf, Zvonimir
Title     Electrochemotherapy: advantages and drawbacks in treatment of cancer patients
Type     članek
Source     Cancer therapy
Vol. and No.     Letnik 1
Publication year     2003
Volume     str. 133-42
Language     eng
Abstract     Electrochemotherapy combines administration of nonpermeant or poorly permeant chemotherapeutic drugs with application of electric pulses to the tumors in order to facilitate the drug delivery into the cells. Thus, enhanced drug detivery can substantially potentiate chemotherapeutic drug effectiveness, locally at the site of the cell electroporation by electric pulses, without affecting drug effectiveness in the tissues that were not exposed to electric pulses. Vast amount of information gathered on effectiveness and mechanisms of action of electrochemotherapy facilitated clinical trials using bleomycin and cisplatin in electrochemotherapy protocols. All studies provided evidence that electrochemotherapy is effective treatment for tocal tumor growth in patients with different cancer types. In this review we gathered the data of the clinical trials that have been published so far, and presented our latest clinical experience on electrochemotherapy with cisplatin at the Institute of Oncology in Ljubljana, pointing out the advantages and drawbacks of this treatment.
Descriptors     NEOPLASMS
ELECTROPORATION
DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEMS
BLEOMYCIN
CISPLATIN
MELANOMA