New Device Treats Pancreatic Cancer Cells With Electric Fields

Researchers have developed a device that can push chemotherapy drugs directly into pancreatic cancer cells using electric fields, a method that may help to shrink tumors and prevent growth.

The device could significantly change the way that pancreatic cancer—a disease with a 75% mortality rate within the first year—is treated.

Note: Pancreatic cancer is notoriously difficult to treat with standard IV chemotherapy, as the cells are surrounded by tissue and can often be intertwined with major organs.
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Led by James Byrne, of DeSimone’s lab at UNC-Chapel Hill, researchers displayed that the iontopheric device can distribute chemotherapy drugs into tumors better than IV chemotherapy and achieve greater concentrations of the drugs within tumors without spreading toxicity throughout the rest of the body.

They note that the device may be used internally—following minimal surgery to implant electrodes into the tumor— to treat inaccessible cancers, or externally to treat more accessible tumors like those found in inflammatory breast cancers and head and neck cancers.

“Progress in the treatment of pancreatic cancer has been persistent but incremental in the past few decades, relying largely on advances in drug therapies. To our knowledge, our study represents the first time iontophoresis has been applied to target pancreatic cancer,” concluded Byrne.

“We hope our invention can be used in humans in the coming years and result in a notable increase in life expectancy and quality among patients diagnosed with pancreatic and other types of cancer.”

The complete study is published in the January issue of Science Translational Medicine.

-Michelle Canales

References:
1. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Potential pancreatic cancer treatment could increase life expectancy. February 2, 2015. http://uncnews.unc.edu/2015/02/04/potential-pancreatic-cancer-treatment-increase-life-expectancy/. Accessed February 6, 2015.

2. Byrne JD, Jajja MNR, O’Neill AT, et al. Local iontophoretic administration of cytotoxic therapies to solid tumors. Sci Transl Med. 2015 January [epub ahead of print] doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3009951.