Abstract.
Electrochemotherapy (ECT) delivers nonpermeable anticancer drugs to cell interiors by temporally increasing the permeability of the cytoplasmic membrane under locally applied pulsating electrical stimuli. This treatment results in consistent and enhanced pharmacological effects of drugs on the targeted tissue. ECT has been used for surface skin cancer but never for musculoskeletal tumors. This report describes a clinical trial of ECT for digital chondrosarcoma. A 74-year-old woman with a digital chondrosarcoma was administered electric stimulation with two surface electrodes 10 min after intratumoral multiple injection of bleomycin sulfate and 15 s after intraarterial perfusion of bleomycin sulfate. Biopsy performed after ECT showed 90% tumor necrosis. Marginal resection of the tumor was followed by autologous bone grafting to fill the bone defect. Although the follow-up period was short (3 years), the patient remained disease-free after ECT and was satisfied that amputation of the affected finger could be avoided. This preliminary result suggests that ECT is a viable modality for limb-preserving treatment of patients with sarcoma of the extremities.
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Received: August 16, 2002 / Accepted: November 29, 2002
Offprint requests to: T. Nikaido
About this article
Cite this article
Shimizu, T., Nikaido, T., Gomyo, H. et al. Electrochemotherapy for digital chondrosarcoma. J Orthop Sci 8, 248–251 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s007760300043
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s007760300043