Electrolytic Treatment of Colorectal Liver Tumour Deposits in a Rat Model: A Technique with Potential for Patients with Unresectable Liver Tumours

Abstract

Background/Aims: Patients with unresectable malignant liver tumours have a poor prognosis. A technique is needed which improves long-term survival. Previous studies in the rat have shown that electrolysis is a safe, predictable and reproducible method for creating areas of necrosis in the normal rat liver. This study examined the effects of electrolysis on colorectal liver ‘metastases’ in the rat. Methods: Tumours of colorectal origin were implanted into the livers of Wistar-WAG rats. Two weeks after implantation the tumours were treated with electrolysis. A direct current generator, connected to 2 platinum intrahepatic electrodes was used to examine the effects of various electrode configurations on the extent of tumour necrosis. Results: Significant (p<0.001) tumour ablation was achieved with all electrode configurations. Tumour necrosis was more complete (p<0.05) with the electrodes positioned on either side of the tumour than with both electrodes placed in the centre of the tumour. Liver enzymes (AST and ALT) were significantly (p<0.001) elevated after treatment, but returned towards normal by 2 days. Conclusions: This study has shown that colorectal liver ‘metastasis’ can be ablated by electrolysis in a rat model. Two separate mechanisms of tumour ablation were observed: With the electrodes directly in or adjacent to the tumour, necrosis resulted from the action of cytotoxic electrode products, whereas by positioning the electrodes proximal to the tumour, necrosis was induced by a ‘secondary’ ischaemic effect. The findings confirm the view that electrolysis has great potential for treating patients with unresectable malignant liver tumours.

Palliation of pancreatic cancer using electrolytic ablation

“…Electrolytic ablation has been extensively investigated for use in patients with unresectable liver tumors [18,[26][27][28]. Unlike other forms of local ablation, electrolysis is a nonthermal technique [1] that causes cell death by a more subtle chemical action.…”

The effect of induced biphasic pulsed currents on re‐epithelialization of a novel wound healing model

“…In vivo DC fields have been directly applied to porcine skin wounds stimulating an increase in wound healing [Alvarez et al, 1983]. A potential disadvantage of using DC fields is the creation of electrolysis products at the electrode surface, which could have cytotoxic effects [Wemyss-Holden et al, 2000]. However, use of AC currents has given mixed results.…”

Perductal electrolytic ablation of the porcine pancreas: A minimally invasive option-studies of morbidity and mortality

“…However, as peripancreatic collections were not found in the 8-week survival group, it would appear that these collections are self-limiting. The electrolytic dose used in this study has been extrapolated from dose-response data from previous work in the liver [32]; this finding suggests that electrolysis produces lesions of greater volume per coulomb dose in the pancreas than in the liver. We hypothesize that this may be due to the large quantities of electrically active ions in the pancreatic acinar cells and secretions, although this remains unproven.…”

“…Mean treatment time was 21 min (range: 18-22 min). The dose of 50 C was decided after analysis of both the data from a pilot study investigating the feasibility and safety of pancreatic electrolytic ablation and preexisting dose/volume data generated from previous studies into hepatic electrolytic ablation [32,34,35].…”