Enhancement of the efficacy of anticancer drugs with electroporation: Successful electrochemotherapy against gastric cancer cell lines in vivo and in vitro

• Published in: International journal of clinical oncology 1997-06, Vol.2 (2), p.111-117
• Main Authors: Kambe, Mariko, Arita, Daisaku, Kikuchi, Hiroaki, Funato, Tadao, Tezuka, Fumiaki, Gamo, Makio, Murakawa, Yasuko, Kanamaru, Ryunosuke
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cancer; Cancer therapies; Chemotherapy; Drug dosages; Drug therapy
• ISSN: 1341-9625; 1437-7772
• DOI: 10.1007/BF02488882

The purpose of this study was to determine whether micropore formation caused by application of an electric current can increase the influx of anticancer drugs across cancer cell membranes with a concomitant increase in dose intensity and, therefore, toxicity to cancer cells. Two cell lines, GCIY and KATO III, both established from human gastric cancers, were used as target cells to assess the effects of combining electroporation and anticancer drug therapy. Results were measured as the proliferation of cells to 50% of the value in control mice (IC^sub 50^). When GCIY cells were used as targets in vitro, the IC^sub 50^ value for bleomycin was decreased significantly by the electroporation, to 10^sup -4^ of the dose for the chemotherapeutic agent alone, and the IC^sub 50^ values of cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil were decreased to one tenth of their baseline values. In the case of KATO III cells, the IC^sub 50^ value for bleomycin was reduced by 10^sup -2^, but that of cisplatin did not change. The IC^sub 50^ value for doxorubicin did not change when GCIY cells, showing multidrug resistance, or when KATO III cells, lacking multidrug resistance, were subjected to electroporation. When GCIY cells were transplanted subcutaneously into nude mice, the resultant tumors decreased to a minimum size at 2 weeks after combined treatment with bleomycin and electroporation. Electroporation seems to be a promising adjunct to cancer chemotherapy.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]