Electro-Cisplatin-Therapy for Estrogen-Receptor Positive Breast Cancers: an in vitro Model Study

Abstract

There is a critical need for alternate, affordable and physical techniques to treat cancer, especially to treat those inoperable, recurrent, advanced, huge, and bleeding breast cancers that are refractory to current standard of cure. Towards this, electrical pulse-mediated chemotherapy, known as electrochemotherapy is a boon to these patients. This involves application of high intensity, short duration electrical pulses of the order of 1200V/cm, 100µs, which open up pores in the cell plasma membrane enabling increased permeability of usually impermeable or less permeable chemo drug molecules and hence enhanced drug uptake. Due to the increased conductivity and relative permittivity, cancer cells are more susceptible to applied electric field than normal cells. Thus, with the field confined to the tumor, with no or the least effect on normal cells, this technique could be effectively used to treat solid tumors. For this purpose, estrogen receptor positive, MCF-7, human breast cancer cells were studied using the most commonly administered, platinum chemo drug, cisplatin at various doses and their effectiveness is studied using MTT viability assay. With viabilities as low as 30%, our results indicate that we can safely administer cisplatin using electrical pulses. This treatment has the potential to be transferred to the clinical practice.