eScience in Biomedical Engineering Research: Cancer Modeling and Simulation

N. OLAIZ; E. MOCSKOS; M. PEREZ RODRIGUEZ; L. COLOMBO; A. SOBA; C. SUAREZ; L. NUÑEZ; M. RISK; G. MARSHALL

Uiversity of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, USA

Workshop; Microsoft eScience Workshop; 2007

Microsoft Research

In tumor drug delivery very few therapeutic agents can reach intracellular targets without passing through the vessel wall, the interstitial matrix and the cell membrane. Physicochemical and physiological barriers could hinder main transport mechanisms, thus leading to inefficient and heterogeneous therapeutic agent accumulation with some cells remaining untreated. It is well known that electric fields enhance drug transport mechanisms by means of migration, convection or electroporation. Electrochemotherapy (ECT), the  use of pulsed electric fields with chemotherapy, is routinely used to enhance cell drug delivery. On the other hand, electrochemical treatment of tumors (EChT), the application of a direct electric current to a solid tumor inducing its necrosis, is widely used in China with good clinical results. While ECT increases permeability of the cell membrane allowing drug penetration, EChT induces strong pH changes with significant water motion. Here we explore a combination of ECT and EChT with drug-loaded nanoparticles with the final goal of  enhancing drug transport and delivery to tumor tissues. Preliminary experimental and theoretical results of EChT regarding particle transport are presented.