Treatment of pancreatic cancer might be enhanced by zapping tumours with electricity alongside drug treatments (Bleomycin or Cisplatin)

Electrochemotherapy delivers short, intense pulses of electricity to a tumour, which temporarily increase how porous cancer cells are, allowing more drugs to flood inside.

The technique is currently used to treat skin cancers and some breast cancers, which can easily be reached by the electrodes needed to deliver the pulses of electricity.

Researchers at CancerResearch@UCC have found that a technique known as electrochemotherapy causes pancreatic cancer cells to become more sensitive to three widely used anti-cancer drugs.

With PCRF funding, Dr Patrick Forde – who led the research – is investigating whether it can be used for tumours in the pancreas, deep inside the body.

The results also revealed that the cells died in a specific way that may have implications for how the immune system responds to the cancer cells after the drug treatment.

Keywords: #electrochemotherapy #pancreatic cancer

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