Group: Urogynaecological Tumours
Vulvar Cancer
In vulvar cancer, electrochemotherapy has been investigated as an organ-preserving option where surgical morbidity is high and in recurrent disease. In the palliative setting the aim is symptom and local control.
31publication records
22clinical publication records
2preclinical 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 the 31 publications in this area. The numbers are summed, not interpreted.
Sum of the patient counts reported across publications524 (reported in 23 publications)
Publications relating their cohort to other publicationspossible cohort overlap (1) · same cohort (1)
Total lesions reported560 (in 6 publications)
Devices used (17 publications naming a device)Cliniporator (9) · Cliniporator VITAE (6) · BTX electroporation unit, ECM 200 (1) · NanoKnife (1)
Agent delivered and route (28 publications reporting an agent)bleomycin · intravenous (22) · bleomycin (3) · bleomycin · intratumoural (2) · cisplatin · intratumoural (1)
Approach (18 publications report it)percutaneous (14) · transcutaneous surface (2) · open surgical (1) · intraoperative (1)
Image guidance (11 publications report it)direct vision (9) · ultrasound (1) · computed tomography (1)
Response criteria (22 publications report it)RECIST (7) · RECIST 1.1 (5) · clinical examination (5) · WHO criteria (3) · other (2)
Combination therapy (15 publications report it)systemic chemotherapy (11) · other combination (7) · other immunotherapy (3) · surgery (2) · radiotherapy (2)
Publications reporting retreatment15 of 23 publications (8 do not report it)
Field strength400–1500 V/cm (5 records, median 1000)
Applied voltage400–730 V (2 records, median 730)
Number of pulses8–100 (8 records, median 8)
Pulse duration90–100000 µs (12 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)
29publication records
21clinical publication records
2preclinical publication records
Limited clinical publication volumethreshold 10/29 records
Clinical and preclinical split of that figure: 8 clinical, 0 preclinical.
1997–2026
Irreversible electroporation (IRE)
1publication records
1clinical publication records
0preclinical publication records
Exploratory / low-volume literaturethreshold 0/1 records
No record for this method feeds the volume label.
2017–2017
Other electroporation applications
1publication records
0clinical publication records
0preclinical publication records
This set does not name a single clinical method; no literature volume is assigned.
2025–2025
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.
Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation 15
Potentiation of Cytotoxic Drug Permeability 3
Muscle Contraction and Anaesthesia Requirement 3
Increased Intracellular Cisplatin Accumulation 3
Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation 2
Necrosis and Necroptosis 1
Systemic / Abscopal Immune Response 1
Calcium Electroporation and ATP Depletion 1
Antivascular Effect and Vessel Disruption 1
Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death 1
Haemostasis and Bleeding Control 1
Study Type Distribution
The percentage gives the share of the whole area.
| Study type | Publications | Share within this area |
|---|---|---|
| Prospective Clinical Study | 2 | 6% |
| Clinical Study | 12 | 39% |
| Retrospective Clinical Study | 4 | 13% |
| Case Series | 2 | 6% |
| Case Report | 2 | 6% |
| Systematic Review / Meta-Analysis | 3 | 10% |
| Review | 2 | 6% |
| Animal Study | 1 | 3% |
| In Vitro Study | 1 | 3% |
| Conference Abstract | 1 | 3% |
| Editorial / Letter | 1 | 3% |
Publication Table
31 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 | Perrone et al · Cancers (Basel) | 2021 | Prospective Clinical Study | Human | – | 51 | Cliniporator | bleomycin · intravenous | complete response 39.2% (51 patients) | The ELECHTRA (ELEctroChemoTherapy vulvaR cAncer) project was conceived to collect data on palliative electrochemotherapy (ECT) in vulvar cancer (VC) assessing patients' outcomes (response an… |
| ECT | Cima et al · European Journal of Cancer | 2015 | Prospective Clinical Study | Human | Potentiation of Cytotoxic Drug Permeability | 25 | – | – | complete response 52% (25 patients) | Recurrent vulvar cancer occurs in an average of 24% of cases after primary treatment with poor prognosis and poor QoL. There is no standard treatment in advanced or recurrent squamocellular … |
| ECT | Vivod et al · Radiol Oncol | 2025 | Clinical Study | Human | – | 26 | Cliniporator VITAE | bleomycin · intravenous | – | Background: The quality of life of patients undergoing oncologic treatment has become an important issue in recent years. Owing to potential mutilation following surgery for vulvar cancer, m… |
| ECT | Perrone et al · Int J Gynecol Cancer | 2023 | Clinical Study | Human | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | 51 | Cliniporator | bleomycin · intravenous | complete response 20 count (51 patients) | Objective: The management of vulvar cancer recurrences is complicated by patients' advanced age and comorbidities. Bleomycin-based electrochemotherapy is a potential treatment option in this… |
| ECT | Vivod et al · Cancers (Basel) | 2023 | Clinical Study | Human | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | 10 / 10 | Cliniporator VITAE | bleomycin · intravenous | stable disease 10 count (10 patients) | Electrochemotherapy is a local ablative therapy used for the treatment of various superficial and deep-seated tumors. Electrochemotherapy involves the application of electric pulses locally … |
| ECT | Corrado et al · International Journal of Gynecological Cancer | 2020 | Clinical Study | Human | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation, Muscle Contraction and Anaesthesia Requirement | 15 | – | bleomycin · intravenous | objective response 80% (15 patients) | 435 Figure 1 A180 Int J Gynecol Cancer 2020;30(Suppl 3):A1–A210 Abstracts Methods Data were retrospectively collected from November 2017 to November 2019 in two Italian oncologic Institutes:… |
| ECT | Perrone et al · Int J Gynecol Cancer | 2020 | Clinical Study | Human | Systemic / Abscopal Immune Response, Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | 6 | Cliniporator VITAE | bleomycin · intravenous | overall survival 12.9 months (6 patients) | Objective: Vaginal metastases are very rare events with a poor prognosis. To improve the quality of life, local treatments should be considered. The aim of this study was to evaluate the rol… |
| ECT | Rundle et al · International Journal of Gynecological Cancer | 2020 | Clinical Study | Human | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | 6 | – | bleomycin · intratumoural | progression-free survival 3.6 months (6 patients) | Little is known about VC in Ethiopia. Our aim was to describe demographic and clinical characteristics of VC patients treated at TASH. Methods This is a retrospective study. A structured que… |
| ECT | Rundle et al · International Journal of Gynecological Cancer | 2020 | Clinical Study | Human | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | 6 | – | bleomycin · intratumoural | progression-free survival 3.6 months (6 patients) | /Background ECT utilises pulsed electrical current to transiently increase cell membrane permeability to the cytotoxic agent, bleomycin. We present the use of ECT in patients with recurrent … |
| ECT | Perrone et al · Cancers (Basel) | 2019 | Clinical Study | Human | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | 61 / 106 | Cliniporator | bleomycin · intravenous | – | Vulvar cancer (VC) is a rare disease of which recurrence poses management problems due to patients' advanced age and comorbidities, and to the localization of the disease. Palliative treatme… |
| ECT | Perrone et al · J Surg Oncol | 2018 | Clinical Study | Human | – | 9 | Cliniporator | bleomycin · intravenous | complete response 11.1% (9 patients) | Background and objectives: Previous studies showed a local tumor control of 80% in patients with relapsed squamous cell vulvar cancer (V-SCC) treated with electrochemotherapy. These results … |
| ECT | Pellegrino et al · Acta Oncol | 2016 | Clinical Study | Human | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | 10 | – | bleomycin · intravenous | objective response 80% (10 patients) | Objective To evaluate the safety, local tumor efficacy and relief of symptoms of electrochemotherapy (ECT) treatment in patients affected by recurrence of vulvar cancer (VC), unsuitable for … |
| ECT | Perrone et al · J Surg Oncol | 2015 | Clinical Study | Human | – | 25 | Cliniporator | bleomycin · intravenous | local control 91% (25 patients) | Objective: The primary endpoint of this trial was to assess clinical response (cCR) of squamocellular vulvar cancer (V-SCC) in elderly patients treated with electro-chemotherapy (ECT). Secon… |
| ECT | Perrone et al · Gynecol Oncol | 2013 | Clinical Study | Human | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation, Muscle Contraction and Anaesthesia Requirement | 9 | Cliniporator | bleomycin · intravenous | objective response 62.5% (8 patients) | Objective: Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is an attractive treatment for solid cutaneous tumours with a good response rate (55-92%). No studies have evaluated ECT performed in vulvar cancer. The … |
| ECT | Vivod et al · Acta Oncol | 2024 | Retrospective Clinical Study | Human | – | 11 / 11 | Cliniporator VITAE | bleomycin · intravenous | complete response 6 count (11 patients) | Background: Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is a combined treatment method based on electroporation and simultaneous chemotherapy. In cases where radiotherapy has previously been used, surgery is … |
| ECT | Perrone et al · International Journal of Gynecological Cancer | 2022 | Retrospective Clinical Study | Human | – | 51 | – | bleomycin | complete response 20 count (51 patients) | 2022-RA-642-ESGO Figure 1 A) Progression free survival (PFS) and B) Overall survival of patients treated with ECT for recurrent vulvar sequamous cellular carcinoma Conclusion Long follow-up … |
| ECT | Vivod et al · Technol Cancer Res Treat | 2022 | Retrospective Clinical Study | Human | – | 5 | Cliniporator | bleomycin · intravenous | complete response 1 count (1 patients) | Objective : Pelvic exenteration in women with recurrent vulvar carcinoma is associated with high morbidity and mortality and substantial treatment costs. Because pelvic exenteration severely… |
| ECT | Corrado et al · Int J Gynecol Cancer | 2020 | Retrospective Clinical Study | Human | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation, Muscle Contraction and Anaesthesia Requirement | 15 | Cliniporator | bleomycin · intravenous | overall survival 61.5% (13 patients) | Objective: Since vulvar cancer is such a rare disease, the international experience with electrochemotherapy has been derived from only a few centers. The aim of this study was to evaluate c… |
| ECT | Grischke et al · Arch Gynecol Obstet | 2026 | Case Series | Human | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | 15 | Cliniporator VITAE | bleomycin · intravenous | – | Background: Vulvar carcinoma (VC), a rare cancer, recurs in over a third of women, usually within 2 years. Treatment options other than repeat surgery and radiotherapy are often required in … |
| IRE | Vroomen et al · Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol | 2017 | Case Series | Human | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | 8 / 9 | NanoKnife | – | – | Objective: To describe the initial experience with irreversible electroporation (IRE) to treat pelvic tumor recurrences. Methods: A retrospective single-center analysis was performed. Advers… |
| ECT | Vivod et al · Radiol Oncol | 2023 | Case Report | Human | Potentiation of Cytotoxic Drug Permeability, Antivascular Effect and Vessel Disruption | 1 / 1 | Cliniporator | bleomycin · intravenous | – | Background: Electrochemotherapy has good local effectiveness in the treatment of vulvar cancer. Most studies have reported the safety and effectiveness of electrochemotherapy for palliative … |
| ECT | Merlo et al · Technol Cancer Res Treat | 2021 | Case Report | Human | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | – | Cliniporator VITAE | bleomycin · intravenous | – | Endometrial carcinoma is the most common gynecological malignancy and the fifth most common malignancy in women. The worldwide incidence is 15.9 new cases per 100,000 women per year, and the… |
| ECT | Perrone et al · Cancers (Basel) | 2021 | Systematic Review / Meta-Analysis | Literature Analysis | Increased Intracellular Cisplatin Accumulation, Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | – / 423 | – | bleomycin · intravenous | – | Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is an emerging treatment for solid tumors and an attractive research field due to its clinical results. This therapy represents an alternative local treatment to th… |
| ECT | Certelli et al · It Journ Gyn Obs | 2020 | Systematic Review / Meta-Analysis | Literature Analysis | – | – | – | bleomycin · intravenous | complete response 46.7% (105 patients) | SOMMARIO There are some problems about the optimal treatment modality of vulvar cancer (VC): unfeasible surgery in elderly women with several comorbidities and the absence of treatments appl… |
| ECT | Tranoulis et al · Int J Gynecol Cancer | 2020 | Systematic Review / Meta-Analysis | Human | – | 104 | – | bleomycin · intravenous | complete response 48.7% (104 patients) | Introduction: Electrochemotherapy involves the use of transient tumor permeabilization via electric pulses in combination with low-dose chemotherapeutic agents. It has recently emerged as an… |
| Other EP | Restaino · Cancers (Basel) | 2025 | Review | Literature Analysis | – | – | – | bleomycin | – | Background: Vulvar carcinoma is an uncommon gynecological tumor primarily affecting older women. Its treatment significantly impacts the quality of life and, not least, aesthetics because of… |
| ECT | Łapińska et al · Molecules | 2022 | Review | Human | Increased Intracellular Cisplatin Accumulation, Calcium Electroporation and ATP Depletion | – | – | bleomycin · intravenous | – | Gynecological carcinomas affect an increasing number of women and are associated with poor prognosis. The gold standard treatment plan is mainly based on surgical resection and subsequent ch… |
| ECT | Yabushita et al · Gynecol Oncol | 1997 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation, Potentiation of Cytotoxic Drug Permeability | – | BTX electroporation unit, ECM 200 | bleomycin · intravenous | – | Electrochemotherapy is a new approach to the treatment of tumors that takes advantage of the permeabilization of the cell membranes by electric pulses to facilitate the intracellular deliver… |
| ECT | Tang et al · Int J Oncol | 2005 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | – | – | – | – | – | Electrochemical treatment is among the most effective therapies in the management of cervical malignancy. However, the mechanism of action of this treatment remains largely unknown. Therefor… |
| ECT | Tranoulis et al · International Journal of Gynecological Cancer | 2019 | Conference Abstract | – | – | 4 | – | bleomycin | complete response 48.74% (4 studies) | EP1290 Figure 1 IJGC 2019;29(Suppl 4):A1–A703 THE POSSIBLE ROLE OF CELL POLARITY FOR CANCER DISEASE – THE IMPLICATION OF CANCER REGRESSION BY HUMAN BODY AXES INTERACTION 1 MC Ou*, 2D Ou, 3CC… |
| ECT | De Giorgi et al · Int J Gynecol Cancer | 2020 | Editorial / Letter | Human | Increased Intracellular Cisplatin Accumulation | – | – | cisplatin · intratumoural | – | This publication has no abstract. |
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.