Electroporation Therapy for Cancer Shows Promise

Results of a study involving the use of electroporation therapy (EPT) in patients with primary head and neck cancer have shown no evidence of disease in 10 of the 12 patients in the study. An abstract of the study was presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery Foundation in San Diego (CA, USA).

The EPT system used in the study was developed by Genetronics Biomedical Corp. (San Diego, CA, USA). The system is used for targeted intracellular delivery of therapeutic materials, concentrating on drugs, vaccines, and gene therapy. In oncology, the company has initiated phase III trials for the treatment of recurrent head and neck therapy. In the current study, the chemotherapy agent used was bleomycin, which the company says offers the highest cytotoxicity under its conditions. Four weeks after treatment, the treated area and a save margin were excised and analyzed. No evidence of disease was found in the excised tissue, showing a response rate of 83% in the patients treated.

The study was conducted by Dr. Martin Burian, of the department of otorhinolaryngology and the department of pathology at Vienna Medical School, University of Vienna (Austria). The conclusion of his abstract was that "EPT seems to serve as an interesting alternative in the treatment of head and neck cancer.”





Related Links:
Genetronics
Univ. of Vienna