treatment of colon carcinoma tumors by electrolysis: effect of electrical dose and polarity

introduction: as a physical treatment, electrochemical therapy (echt) has provided an effective and useful  approach  for  treating  localized  tumors.  the  chemical  changes  due  to  a  direct  electric  current  destroy  the  tumor. this study evaluates the effect of electrical dose and polarity on the efficacy of the treatment of a  colon tumor model.  materials and methods: in order to induce tumors, 5 × 10 5 ct26 cells were injected into the right dorsal  side of 100 balb/c mice subcutaneously. when the mean volume of the tumors reached 350 ± 50 mm 3 , they  were randomly divided into 2 control and 8 test groups, each consisting of 10 mice. six platinum electrodes  (3 cathodes and 3 anodes) were inserted into the base and the apex of each tumor. electrical doses of 0, 10,  20, 30 or 40 c/cm 3 were then applied. tumors volumes were subsequently measured daily and the mortalities  were recorded. a histopatholological study was also performed.  results: after echt, a decrease in tumor volume and also an increase in necrosis and cumulative survival  were  statistically  significant.  in  the  control  groups,  the  tumors  were  not  destroyed  and  the  mice  did  not  survive more than 50 days. with 40 c/cm 3 electrical dosage and anode electrode polarity applied to bases of  the  tumors,  80%  of  the  tumors  showed  complete  response  until  120  days  post-treatment.  increasing  the  electrical  dose  caused  a  statistically  significant  effect  on  the  complete  response  percentage  and  the  cumulative  survival  fraction.  applying  anode  polarity  to  the  bases  of  the  tumors  produced  better  results  although without statistical significance.  discussions and conclusions: complete response in the treatment groups (10 to 80 percent) demonstrates  the antitumor effects and the high potential of electrolysis for tumors eradication. also, occurrence of only  one death event in the highest electrical dose group and the good health of the animals until 120 days after  treatment demonstrate that electrolysis is a safe technique.