GBM is among the most lethal and challenging cancers due to their high recurrence rates and resistance to conventional therapies. Despite advancements in surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, the prognosis for GBM remains dismal, with a median survival of only 15 months and a 5- year survival rate below 5%. This highlights the urgent need for innovative treatments.
Electric field-based therapies have emerged as a promising non-invasive therapeutic approach that leverages the unique bioelectrical properties of cancer cells to disrupt their growth and proliferation. Electric fields work by applying alternating electric fields at specific frequencies and intensities, which interfere with the bioelectrical state of macromolecules and organelles within cancer cells, leading to several anti-cancer effects.
These include:
- inhibition of cell mitosis by disrupting the formation of microtubule spindles, which leads to mitotic arrest and cell death;
- disruption of genomic integrity, which increases DNA damage and inhibits DNA repair mechanisms, thus contributing to cancer cell death;
- suppression of cell migration and invasion by altering the cellular cytoskeleton and affecting ion channel activity, thereby hindering the metastatic potential of cancer cells;
- induction of autophagy, where abnormal mitotic events can trigger cellular self- digestion processes leading to cell death; and
- enhancement of the anti-tumor immune response by inducing the release of damage-associated molecular patterns that activate the immune system against the tumor.
