ElectroChemotherapy vs ElectroGenetherapy
Electroporation consists of exposing a cell or a tissue to an external electric field, which modifies cell membrane permeability to molecules that otherwise would cross the
Plasma membrane with low efficiency, or not at all. Electroporation has rapidly developed into different biotechnological and biomedical applications and now is a part of many national cancer treatment guidelines and protocols.
The first of these involved delivery of anticancer drugs into cutaneous and subcutaneous tumor nodules. This procedure, termed electrochemotherapy, is now used regularly in clinical practice for cancer treatments and planning for treatment of deep-seated tumors is being developed.
In addition to chemotherapeutic drugs, larger molecules such as DNA can be introduced into cells using electric pulses, which is referred to as electrogenetherapy in the context of medical care. In the past 30 years, researchers have made considerable progress, and gene electrotransfer has
been successfully performed on many tissues. The first phase I clinical trial of gene electrotransfer has been conducted in patients with metastatic melanoma and several clinical studies for DNA vaccination have been
monitored or are currently ongoing (https://clinicaltrials.gov).
- Reference: Gene Electrotransfer: A Mechanistic Perspective article, Current Gene Therapy