Group: Deep Organ Tumours
Colorectal Cancer
In colorectal tumours electroporation has been studied in distinct contexts: liver metastases, local recurrence and endoscopically accessible lesions. The clinical literature of this area is narrow next to the pancreatic and hepatic indications, and most of its records are preclinical.
50publication records49 unique studies once versions are merged
15clinical publication records
26preclinical publication records
5reviews
1997–2026publication span
Clinical publications: randomized, prospective and retrospective studies, case series and case reports. Preclinical publications: animal, in vitro, modelling and experimental biophysics studies.
Clinical and Technical Data Reported in the Publications
The sum of the fields reported in the full text of 48 of the 50 publications in this area. The numbers are summed, not interpreted.
Sum of the patient counts reported across publications443 (reported in 17 publications)
Total lesions reported241 (in 13 publications)
Devices used (34 publications naming a device)Cliniporator (8) · ePORE (6) · EndoVE (4) · BTX ECM830 (3) · T820FE (3) · Cliniporator VITAE (2)
Agent delivered and route (37 publications reporting an agent)bleomycin · intravenous (11) · calcium chloride · intratumoural (7) · bleomycin · intratumoural (5) · other (3) · bleomycin (3) · calcium chloride · other route (2)
Approach (37 publications report it)endoscopic (15) · percutaneous (12) · transcutaneous surface (8) · open surgical (1) · endoluminal (1)
Image guidance (28 publications report it)endoscopy (13) · direct vision (8) · computed tomography (8) · ultrasound (3) · magnetic resonance imaging (2)
Response criteria (20 publications report it)other (5) · RECIST 1.1 (5) · clinical examination (4) · volumetric (2) · histological (2)
Combination therapy (24 publications report it)other combination (12) · systemic chemotherapy (11) · surgery (2) · radiotherapy (1) · checkpoint inhibitor (1)
Publications reporting retreatment9 of 38 publications (10 do not report it)
Field strength100–1500 V/cm (25 records, median 1000)
Applied voltage1200 V
Number of pulses1–100 (28 records, median 8)
Pulse duration70–1e+06 µs (26 records, median 100)
The totals are not a count of unique patients: the same cohort may have been reported in more than one publication.
Literature Status by Method
Publication count, clinical and preclinical split, literature volume and publication span for each clinical method. The badge at the top of the page summarises the ECT record only; the full split by method is here.
Electrochemotherapy (ECT)
24publication records
8clinical publication records
14preclinical publication records
Exploratory / low-volume literaturethreshold 4/24 records
Clinical and preclinical split of that figure: 1 clinical, 0 preclinical.
1997–2025
Irreversible electroporation (IRE)
8publication records
1clinical publication records
3preclinical publication records
Exploratory / low-volume literaturethreshold 0/8 records
No record for this method feeds the volume label.
2012–2025
Calcium electroporation
9publication records
4clinical publication records
4preclinical publication records
Exploratory / low-volume literaturethreshold 2/9 records
Clinical and preclinical split of that figure: 1 clinical, 0 preclinical.
2015–2026
Gene electrotransfer
1publication records
0clinical publication records
1preclinical publication record
Exploratory / low-volume literaturethreshold 0/1 records
No record for this method feeds the volume label.
2025–2025
Other electroporation applications
8publication records
2clinical publication records
4preclinical publication records
This set does not name a single clinical method; no literature volume is assigned.
2001–2026
Mechanisms Mentioned in Abstracts
The figure is the number of abstracts mentioning the mechanism. A mention does not mean it was demonstrated in that study.
Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation 17
Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation 15
Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death 10
Calcium Electroporation and ATP Depletion 9
Necrosis and Necroptosis 7
Apoptosis Induction 5
Muscle Contraction and Anaesthesia Requirement 5
Potentiation of Cytotoxic Drug Permeability 4
Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Oxidative Stress 3
Increased Intracellular Cisplatin Accumulation 3
Electric Field Distribution and Modelling 3
Gene Electrotransfer (Plasmid DNA) 2
Study Type Distribution
The percentage gives the share of the whole area.
| Study type | Publications | Share within this area |
|---|---|---|
| Randomized Clinical Trial | 1 | 2% |
| Prospective Clinical Study | 2 | 4% |
| Clinical Study | 5 | 10% |
| Case Series | 2 | 4% |
| Case Report | 5 | 10% |
| Systematic Review / Meta-Analysis | 1 | 2% |
| Guideline / Consensus | 1 | 2% |
| Review | 4 | 8% |
| Animal Study | 18 | 36% |
| In Vitro Study | 8 | 16% |
| Survey / Field Study | 2 | 4% |
| Protocol | 1 | 2% |
Publication Table
50 publication records sorted by study design. Click a title to open the citation, mechanism and full abstract drawer.
Classifications are generated automatically and can be wrong for individual records. Methodology
| Regime | Publication | Year | Study type | Model | Mechanism | Patients / lesions | Device | Agent and route | Reported outcome | Abstract |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ECT | Rega et al · Cancers (Basel) | 2021 | Randomized Clinical Trial | Human | – | 70 | Cliniporator, Cliniporator VITAE | bleomycin · intravenous | – | Background: Currently, 45-55% of rectal cancer patients receive preoperative chemo- radio-therapy for Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer (LARC). The idea of our study is to use Electrochemothera… |
| Calcium EP | Broholm · Endosc Int Open | 2023 | Prospective Clinical Study | Human | Calcium Electroporation and ATP Depletion | 6 | EndoVE, Cliniporator | calcium chloride · intratumoural | complete response 1 count (6 patients) | Background and study aims Colorectal cancer is one of the most common malignancies, with approximately 20 % of patients having metastatic disease. Local symptoms from the tumor remain a comm… |
| ECT | Falk Hansen et al · Endosc Int Open | 2020 | Prospective Clinical Study | Human | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | 7 / 7 | Cliniporator, ePORE, EndoVe | bleomycin · both intravenous and intratumoural | – | Background and study aims Electrochemotherapy is an anticancer treatment that uses electric pulses to facilitate uptake of chemotherapeutic drugs in tumor cells and has proven to have a high… |
| Calcium EP | Broholm et al · Surg Endosc | 2023 | Clinical Study | Human | Calcium Electroporation and ATP Depletion | 21 / 21 | EndoVE, ePORE | calcium chloride · intratumoural | – | Background: The development of new perioperative treatment modalities to activate the immune system in colorectal cancer might have a beneficial effect on reducing the risk of recurrence aft… |
| IRE | Meijerink et al · Radiology | 2021 | Clinical Study | Human | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | 51 / 76 | NanoKnife | – | – | Background Irreversible electroporation (IRE), an ablative technique that uses high-voltage electrical pulses, has shown promise for eradicating tumors near critical structures, including bl… |
| Calcium EP | Broholm et al · European Journal of Surgical Oncology | 2019 | Clinical Study | Human | Calcium Electroporation and ATP Depletion | 1 | EndoVE, Cliniporator | calcium chloride · intratumoural | stable disease 1 count (1 patients) | Electroporation is a method used to permeabilize cell membranes with high voltage pulses. As a result, an increased flow of molecules across the cell membrane is observed, and allows passage … |
| ECT | Scala et al · European Journal of Surgical Oncology (EJSO) | 2015 | Clinical Study | Human | – | 1 / 1 | – | bleomycin · intravenous | – | This publication has no abstract. |
| ECT | Rega et al · European Journal of Surgical Oncology (EJSO) | 2014 | Clinical Study | Human | – | 1 | – | bleomycin · intravenous | complete response 1 count (1 patients) | This publication has no abstract. |
| Other EP | Aigner et al · Front Oncol | 2025 | Case Series | Human | Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | – | Cliniporator VITAE | other | – | Introduction: We report a series of four patients with HPV-positive squamous cell carcinoma of the anus: two with non-previously treated grade G3 malignancies, and two with relapsing G2 tumo… |
| Other EP | Adeyeye · – | 2025 | Case Series | Human | Apoptosis Induction, Necrosis and Necroptosis | 16 | ePORE | calcium chloride · intratumoural | stable disease 2 count (16 patients) | Background/Objectives: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most common gastrointestinal (GI) malignancy, the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality, and the third most prevalent tumor. … |
| Calcium EP | Adeyeye · J Clin Med | 2025 | Case Report | Human | Calcium Electroporation and ATP Depletion, Apoptosis Induction | 16 | ePORE, EndoVE® probe | other · intratumoural | stable disease 2 count (16 patients) | Background/Objectives: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most common gastrointestinal (GI) malignancy, the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality, and the third most prevalent tumor. … |
| ECT | Rega et al · J Clin Med | 2022 | Case Report | Human | – | 3 / 3 | Cliniporator, Pulsar | bleomycin · intravenous | complete response 1 count (3 patients) | Purpose: Surgery, radiotherapy, and oncological treatment (chemotherapy and antineoplastic antibodies) are standard treatments of rectal cancer. ECT has shown its effectiveness and suitabili… |
| ECT | Caprino et al · J Surg Case Rep | 2021 | Case Report | Human | – | 1 / 1 | – | bleomycin · intravenous | – | Recurrence of rectal cancer (RRC) affects up to one-third of patients. The survival is strictly dependent on the possibility of performing surgery without microscopic tumor residues (R0). El… |
| ECT | Ferioli et al · Anticancer Drugs | 2020 | Case Report | Human | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation, Muscle Contraction and Anaesthesia Requirement | 1 / 1 | IGEA electrochemotherapy machine | bleomycin · intravenous | complete response 1 count (1 patients) | Anal canal adenocarcinoma is generally treated like rectal cancer. Surgery is the standard treatment in early stages and neoadjuvant chemoradiation in locally advanced tumors. Local recurren… |
| ECT | Borgognoni et al · Future Oncol | 2014 | Case Report | Human | – | 1 / 1 | Cliniporator | bleomycin · intravenous | objective response 1 count (1 patients) | We report the case of an old woman with an eccrine porocarcinoma unusually localized in the perianal area treated by electrochemotherapy, a new technique, emerging as a very effective local … |
| IRE | Spiers et al · HPB | 2023 | Systematic Review / Meta-Analysis | Literature Analysis | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | 180 | – | – | – | ES: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF FEASIBILITY, SAFETY AND OUTCOME H. V. Spiers1, F. Lancellotti2 and A. K. Siriwardena2 1 University of Cambridge, Department of Surgery, Cambridge, United Kingdom, an… |
| Other EP | Adeyeye et al · – | 2025 | Guideline / Consensus | Human | Muscle Contraction and Anaesthesia Requirement | – | – | calcium chloride · intratumoural | – | Background: Endoscopic Electroporation (EE) is an innovative minimally invasive therapy that utilises short electrical pulses combined with intratumoural (IT) calcium or IT/ intravenous (IV)… |
| Calcium EP | Adeyeye et al · – | 2026 | Review | – | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | – | – | bleomycin | technical success 80% (80 patients) | Background/Objectives: Endoscopic electroporation — including electrochemotherapy, calcium electroporation, irreversible electroporation and pulsed-field ablation — is an intended non-therma… |
| Other EP | Pérez-Santiago et al · Cancers (Basel) | 2026 | Review | Literature Analysis | Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death | – | – | – | – | Background: Colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) represent a major determinant of prognosis in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer and account for a substantial proportion of cancer-rel… |
| IRE | Zhang et al · Cancers (Basel) | 2025 | Review | Literature Analysis | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | – | – | – | – | Colorectal liver metastasis (CRLM) poses a significant challenge in oncology due to its high incidence and poor prognosis in unresectable cases. Current treatments, including surgical resect… |
| ECT | Schipilliti et al · Radiol Oncol | 2022 | Review | Human | – | – | – | bleomycin · intravenous | – | Background: Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is a minimally invasive and safe treatment gaining positive and long-lasting antitumoral results that are receiving the attention of the scientific comm… |
| Gene ET | De · Mol Ther Nucleic Acids | 2025 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Gene Electrotransfer (Plasmid DNA), Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | – | ELECTRO Cell B10 | plasmid DNA · intratumoural | – | Gene electrotransfer (GET) has recently emerged as an effective nonviral approach for plasmid DNA (pDNA) delivery in gene therapy for several pathologies, including cancer. Multiple mechanis… |
| IRE | Rugivarodom · VideoGIE | 2025 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | – / 10 | EndoVE, ePORE | – | – | Electroporation (EP) is a novel, highly selective, nonthermal modality for tissue ablation.1 Reversible EP occurs when an electrical field is applied to the target cell creating transmembran… |
| ECT | Tremble et al · Cancer Lett | 2019 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Increased Intracellular Cisplatin Accumulation, Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | – | Cliniporator | cisplatin · intratumoural | – | Electrochemotherapy is an emerging treatment modality for cancer patients which can effectively reduce tumour burden and induce immunogenic cell death. Electrochemotherapy is most commonly u… |
| Calcium EP | Falk et al · Oncoimmunology | 2017 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Calcium Electroporation and ATP Depletion, Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | – | – | calcium chloride · intratumoural | complete response 100% (12 animals) | Electroporation is used in cancer treatment because of its ability to increase local cytotoxicity of e.g. bleomycin (electrochemotherapy) and calcium (calcium electroporation). Calcium elect… |
| Other EP | Kulbacka et al · Bioelectrochemistry | 2016 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Potentiation of Cytotoxic Drug Permeability | – | BTX ECM830 | other | – | Nanocarriers and electroporation (also named electropermeabilization) are convenient methods to increase drug transport. In the current study, we present an effective support of drug deliver… |
| ECT | Calvet et al · Oncoimmunology | 2014 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Immunogenic Cell Death (ICD), Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | – | Cliniporator | bleomycin · intravenous | disease-free survival 7 mm (8 animals) | Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is a local cancer treatment that has been used over the course of more than 2 decades for the removal of cutaneous and subcutaneous tumors. Several lines of evidenc… |
| IRE | Srimathveeravalli et al · J Vasc Interv Radiol | 2013 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | – / 12 | – | – | – | Purpose: To study the feasibility of a novel endorectal electrode for the creation of focal ablations of the rectal wall with the use of irreversible electroporation (IRE). Materials and met… |
| ECT | Bourke et al · European Journal of Surgical Oncology (EJSO) | 2012 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | – | 3 | – | – | – | This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of preoperative ultrasound with FNA for detecting axillary metastases in invasive breast cancer in a medium sized district general hospital. Methods… |
| IRE | Schoellnast et al · Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol | 2012 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | – / 44 | NanoKnife | – | progression-free survival 18 count (20 lesions) | Purpose: To evaluate the effects of irreversible electroporation (IRE) on the rectum wall after IRE applied adjacent to the rectum. Material and methods: CT-guided IRE adjacent to the rectum… |
| ECT | Gunji et al · Hepatogastroenterology | 2005 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | – | – | – | – | Background/aims: Electrochemotherapy, which uses two parallel electrodes for delivery of electric pulses, may be useful for treatment of tumor nodules. However, in clinical fields, tumors th… |
| ECT | Zheng · World J Gastroenterol | 2005 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation, Necrosis and Necroptosis | – / 40 | BTX ECM830, BTX Tweezer Model 520 | bleomycin · intratumoural | complete response 1 count (10 patients) | Aim: To evaluate the anti-tumor effects and possible involvement of anti-tumor immunity of electrochemotherapy (ECT) employing electroporation and bleomycin in human colon cancer xenografts … |
| ECT | Kuriyama et al · Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology | 2001 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | – | UES-20, Model 5138, bipolar wire snare (Model 5138), electrosurgical generator (UES-20) | bleomycin · intratumoural | – | Background: Although electrochemotherapy appears promising for the treatment of superficial tumors, its usefulness against internal tumors, such as colorectal carcinoma (CRC), has not been w… |
| Other EP | Matsubara et al · Int J Oncol | 2001 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Gene Electrotransfer (Plasmid DNA) | – | BTX T820, BTX T820 generator | bleomycin · intravenous | – | Delivery of electric pulses to an established solid tumor augments the permeability of cell membrane and increases the susceptibility of tumors to an anti-cancer agent that is administered i… |
| ECT | Kuriyama et al · Int J Oncol | 2000 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | – | T820FE | bleomycin · intratumoural | – | Mice bearing subcutaneously established colorectal carcinoma (CRC) were given intratumoral, intravenous or intraperitoneal injection of various doses of bleomycin (BLM), followed by the deli… |
| ECT | Kuriyama et al · Open MIND | 2000 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | – | – | T820FE | bleomycin · intratumoural | complete response 5 count (8 animals) | This publication has no abstract. |
| ECT | Mitoro et al · Int J Oncol | 2000 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | – | – | – | – | Effectiveness of electrochemotherapy against colorectal carcinoma (CRC) was evaluated in a mouse model. When mice with a subcutaneously established CRC tumor were administered intratumorally… |
| ECT | Kuriyama et al · Int J Oncol | 1999 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | – / 24 | Gene Pulser, T820FE | bleomycin · intratumoural | complete response 4 count (8 animals) | Electropermeabilization was shown to markedly increase the sensitivity of murine colorectal carcinoma (CRC) cells to bleomycin (BLM), resulting in more than 2,500-fold higher susceptibility … |
| ECT | Tada et al · Surg Today | 1997 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | – | Electro Square Porator T820 | bleomycin · intravenous | – | Electrochemotherapy is a novel antitumor treatment involving the systemic administration of bleomycin followed by the delivery of electrical pulses to the tumor. The present study investigat… |
| Calcium EP | Szewczyk · Biol Res | 2025 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Oxidative Stress, Calcium Electroporation and ATP Depletion | – | BTX 830 Electroporator, PPG-20 generator | calcium chloride · other route | – | Background: Electroporation (EP) leverages electric pulses to permeabilize cell membranes, enabling the delivery of therapeutic agents like calcium in cancer treatment. Calcium electroporati… |
| ECT | Szlasa et al · Pharmaceuticals (Basel) | 2024 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | – | – | BTX830, PPG-20 generator | bleomycin | – | Colon cancer (CC) management includes surgery, radio- and chemotherapy based on treatment with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) or its derivatives. However, its application is limited to low-grade carc… |
| Other EP | Kulbacka et al · Int J Mol Sci | 2022 | In Vitro Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Oxidative Stress, Potentiation of Cytotoxic Drug Permeability | – | BTX ECM830 | other | – | (1) Background: The size and surface charge are the most significant parameters of nanocarriers that determine their efficiency and potential application. The poor cell uptake of encapsulate… |
| ECT | Alkis et al · Electromagn Biol Med | 2022 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | Optimisation of Pulse Parameters | – | Gemini X2 electroporation system | other · other route | – | Although chemotherapy (CT) has some adverse effects on healthy tissues and cells, it is widely preferred for treating patients with cancer. Drug resistance is one of the major impediments to… |
| Calcium EP | Gibot et al · Cancers (Basel) | 2020 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | Calcium Electroporation and ATP Depletion, DNA Damage and Double-Strand Breaks | – | Electro cell S20 generator | calcium chloride | – | Adolescent cancer survivors present increased risks of developing secondary malignancies due to cancer therapy. Electrochemotherapy is a promising anti-cancer approach that potentiates the c… |
| Other EP | Griseti et al · Sci Rep | 2019 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Potentiation of Cytotoxic Drug Permeability | – | ELECTROCELL S20 | – | – | Cold atmospheric plasma and more recently, plasma-activated liquids (culture media, water or buffered solutions previously exposed to plasma), are gathering momentum in cancer cells treatmen… |
| Calcium EP | Frandsen et al · PLoS One | 2015 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | Calcium Electroporation and ATP Depletion, Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | – | Electro cell S20 generator | calcium chloride · other route | – | Background: Calcium electroporation describes the use of high voltage electric pulses to introduce supraphysiological calcium concentrations into cells. This promising method is currently in… |
| ECT | Kuriyama et al · Int J Oncol | 1999 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | – | Gene Pulser | bleomycin | cell viability 15 other | Effectiveness of electrochemotherapy against colorectal carcinoma (CRC) was investigated in vitro using murine CRC cell lines. Electropermeabilization did not increase the sensitivity of CRC… |
| IRE | Spiers et al · Dig Surg | 2025 | Survey / Field Study | Human | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | – | – | – | – | Introduction: Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a form of non-thermal ablation that delivers pulses of high-voltage electric current between electrodes. Although IRE has been demonstrate… |
| IRE | Spiers et al · – | 2024 | Survey / Field Study | – | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | 64 | – | – | progression-free survival 0.5 months (40 animals) | : Background: Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a form of non-thermal ablation that delivers pulses of high voltage electrical current between electrodes. The role of IRE in the treatmen… |
| ECT | Adeyeye et al · J Clin Med | 2025 | Protocol | Human | Muscle Contraction and Anaesthesia Requirement | – | ePORE, EndoVE probe | calcium chloride · intratumoural | – | Background: Endoscopic Electroporation (EE) is an innovative minimally invasive therapy that utilises short electrical pulses combined with intratumoural (IT) calcium or IT/intravenous (IV) … |
No publication matches these filters.
Limitations
Publication volume is not clinical efficacy or evidence quality. It describes how much literature exists in the area and of what kind; it does not indicate how strongly the treatment is supported, guideline endorsement or regulatory status.
Patient totals are not a count of unique patients. The same cohort may have been reported in more than one publication; the totals are not a meta-analysis.
How the corpus was assembled, the tier thresholds, the definition of a clinical publication and why methods are counted separately: Literature Map.