Endoscopic Treatment of Inoperable Colorectal Cancer With the EndoVe System

A new approach to treating solid tumours (both operable and inoperable) has been carried out by the Cork Cancer Research Centre (CCRC) at the Mercy University Hospital, Cork, Ireland since 2002.
The approach simply allows a greater concentration of chemotherapy drugs to enter the tumour cells rather than healthy cells. The uptake of the chemotherapeutic drug directly by the tumour is aided through applying short electric pulses to the tumor mass (referred to as - Electrochemotherapy or ECT). The pulses make the tumour more porous which allows the drug easier access into the cancer cells, whereas other tissues and organs in the body remain relatively poor at absorbing the drug, thereby reducing the potential side effects on healthy tissues. This approach to date has been limited to skin based tumours due to the requirement for the electrodes to be placed directly in contact with the tumour. Procedures with electrochemotherapy have been applied to human patients in other countries of the EU, the US and Japan.
The drug concentration used is significantly reduced due to the more targeted absorption by the tumor and this significantly reduces side effects normally associated with chemotherapy.
A large number of preclinical and clinical Phase I and I/II studies have demonstrated the efficiency and safety of ECT. These studies have included patients with melanoma, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, merkel cell carcinomas, basal cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma nodules. Case reports concerning other primary tumours have also been reported.
The investigators have developed an endoscopic approach (EndoVe system) for delivering the electric pulses to internal cancers and are currently seeking to evaluate its efficacy in the treatment of inoperable colorectal cancer. The treatment procedure is similar to standard endoscopic colorectal examination (colonoscopy) with the added element of an intravenous injection of bleomycin followed after eight minutes by the delivery of electric pulses (each one less than 1msec in duration). The pulses are endoscopically delivered directly to the tumour mass. The entire procedure is minimally invasive and does not require intensive care follow up or stitches. If the treatment is successful the tumour will shrink in size in the weeks following the procedure.
The objective of this study is to investigate the efficacy and safety of this approach in reducing the size of the tumour.