Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018;22(1):8-13.
doi: 10.5114/wo.2018.74387. Epub 2018 Apr 3.

Electrochemotherapy in the treatment of melanoma

Mateusz Wichtowski  1 , Dawid Murawa  2
Affiliations
Review

Electrochemotherapy in the treatment of melanoma

Mateusz Wichtowski et al. Contemp Oncol (Pozn). 2018.

Abstract

Electrochemotherapy is a new therapeutic option for patients with locally spread melanoma. It is based on the phenomenon of reversible electroporation, i.e. a transient increase in permeability of cell membranes under the influence of an appropriately modulated electric field. This allows multiplication of toxicity of a cytostatic agent entering the tumour cell. It is highly effective, especially in the palliative treatment of cancers located in the integument of the human body (skin and subcutaneous tissue). Available literature provides a mandate both for the application of this method in the aforementioned cases as well as for further work on its development. This paper focuses on reviewing the literature concerning the use of electrochemotherapy in the treatment of melanoma.

Keywords: bleomycin; electrochemotherapy; mel-anoma.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow chart presenting steps in electrochemotherapy (by courtesy of IGEA Ltd.)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Basic device Cliniporator™ with an applicator (by courtesy of IGEA Ltd.)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Types of needle electrodes: A – linear; B – hexagonal; C – plate; D – ring (by courtesy of IGEA Ltd.)
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
The process of selection of publications included in the literature Review
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Meier F, Will S, Ellwanger U, Schlagenhauff B, Schittek B, Rassner G, Garbe C. Metastatic pathways and time courses in the orderly progression of cutaneous melanoma. Br J Dermatol. 2002;147:62–70. - PubMed
    1. Eapen S, Dutcher JP. A review of evidence-based treatment of stage IIB to stage IV melanoma. Cancer Invest. 2005;23:323–37. - PubMed
    1. Bonenkamp JJ, Thompson JF, de Wilt JH, Doubrovsky A, de Faria Lima R, Kam PC. Isolated limb infusion with fotemustine after dacarbazine chemosensitisation for inoperable loco-regional melanoma recurrence. Eur J Surg Oncol. 2004;30:1107–12. - PubMed
    1. Lindner P, Doubrovsky A, Kam P, Thompson JF. Prognostic factors after isolated limb infusion with cytotoxic agents for melanoma. Ann Surg Oncol. 2002;9:127–36. - PubMed
    1. McKay AJ, Byrne DS. Other treatments. In: Thompson JF, Morton DL, Kroon BBR, editors. Textbook of Melanoma. London: Martin Dunitz; 2004. pp. 438–44.

LinkOut - more resources