Electrochemotherapy is the usage of electroporation to introduce chemotherapeutic drugs through membrane pores into target cells for cancer treatment. The effectiveness of chemotherapeutic drugs would be increased dramatically when they are used in electrochemotherapy than standard chemotherapy. In the present study, we investigated the effects of cisplatin treatment with electroporation on human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells. SH-SY5Y cells were treated with different concentrations (0.15-24 µg/mL) of cisplatin and then exposed to 1500 volts per centimeter (V/cm), 100 microseconds (µs) pulse duration, and 1 Hertz (Hz) electric pulses. Cisplatin alone showed a dose-dependent effect on cell viability. On the other hand, cisplatin + electroporation treatment was more effective than cisplatin treatment alone. Lower doses of cisplatin treatment with electroporation was as effective as higher doses of cisplatin treatment without electroporation. These results indicated that cisplatin cytotoxicity was potentiated after exposure of cells to high intensity electric pulses and low doses of cisplatin can be used with electroporation in the treatment of neuroblastoma.

Estrogen receptor positive breast cancer is the most common type of breast cancer and in most cases, hormone therapy is considered complementary to surgery. Tamoxifen is one of the most common drugs used in hormone therapy for treating estrogen receptor positive breast cancer cells. However, it has severe side-effects depending on the duration of treating breast cancer and amount of tamoxifen used. In this study, we examined the effects of electroporation on the tamoxifen uptake in estrogen receptor positive MCF-7 breast cancer cells. The survival rate of MCF-7 cells had a negative relationship with energy dissipation in cells. Similarly, the electrical charge delivered to cells during electroporation was inversely proportional to survival rate. The combined application of electroporation and tamoxifen is much more effective than the usage of tamoxifen alone in the treatment of estrogen receptor positive breast cancer. The application of electroporation increased the uptake of tamoxifen into MCF-7 cells and reduced the minimal tamoxifen dosage which, is needed for the treatment of estrogen receptor positive breast cancer.