A Review on Differences in Effects on Normal and Malignant Cells and Tissues to Electroporation-Based Therapies: A Focus on Calcium Electroporation

TY - JOUR

T1 - A Review on Differences in Effects on Normal and Malignant Cells and Tissues to Electroporation-Based Therapies

T2 - A Focus on Calcium Electroporation

AU - Frandsen, Stine K.

AU - Gehl, Julie

PY - 2018/1

Y1 - 2018/1

N2 - Calcium electroporation is a potential novel anticancer treatment, where high concentrations of calcium are introduced into the cell cytosol by electroporation. This is a method where short, high-voltage pulses induce a transient permeabilization of the cell membrane and thereby allow influx and efflux of ions and molecules. Electroporation is used in combination with chemotherapeutic drugs (electrochemotherapy) as a standard treatment for cutaneous metastases, and electroporation using a higher electric field and number of pulses (irreversible electroporation) is increasingly being used as an anticancer treatment. In this review, calcium electroporation is described with emphasis on the investigations of differences in the effect on normal and malignant cells and tissues in vitro and in vivo. Calcium electroporation has been shown to induce cell death in vitro and tumor necrosis in vivo with a difference in sensitivity between different tumor types. Normal cells treated in vitro are significantly less affected than cancer cells, and a similar trend is shown in vivo where muscle and skin tissue surrounding a treated tumor as well as muscle and skin directly treated with calcium electroporation were less affected than tumors. The mechanism behind this difference in sensitivity is not fully understood but might be affected by differences in electric impedance, membrane repair, and expression of plasma membrane calcium ATPases in normal and malignant cells. The research on calcium electroporation shows a potential novel anticancer treatment with significant effect on cancer cells and tissues while normal cells and tissues are clearly less affected.

AB - Calcium electroporation is a potential novel anticancer treatment, where high concentrations of calcium are introduced into the cell cytosol by electroporation. This is a method where short, high-voltage pulses induce a transient permeabilization of the cell membrane and thereby allow influx and efflux of ions and molecules. Electroporation is used in combination with chemotherapeutic drugs (electrochemotherapy) as a standard treatment for cutaneous metastases, and electroporation using a higher electric field and number of pulses (irreversible electroporation) is increasingly being used as an anticancer treatment. In this review, calcium electroporation is described with emphasis on the investigations of differences in the effect on normal and malignant cells and tissues in vitro and in vivo. Calcium electroporation has been shown to induce cell death in vitro and tumor necrosis in vivo with a difference in sensitivity between different tumor types. Normal cells treated in vitro are significantly less affected than cancer cells, and a similar trend is shown in vivo where muscle and skin tissue surrounding a treated tumor as well as muscle and skin directly treated with calcium electroporation were less affected than tumors. The mechanism behind this difference in sensitivity is not fully understood but might be affected by differences in electric impedance, membrane repair, and expression of plasma membrane calcium ATPases in normal and malignant cells. The research on calcium electroporation shows a potential novel anticancer treatment with significant effect on cancer cells and tissues while normal cells and tissues are clearly less affected.

KW - calcium electroporation

KW - in vitro

KW - in vivo

KW - malignant

KW - normal

U2 - 10.1177/1533033818788077

DO - 10.1177/1533033818788077

M3 - Review

C2 - 30012047

AN - SCOPUS:85056729866

SN - 1533-0346

VL - 17

SP - 1

EP - 6

JO - Technology in Cancer Research and Treatment

JF - Technology in Cancer Research and Treatment

ER -