Brain Tumours
Musculoskeletal & CNS
In the central nervous system, electroporation is investigated both for tumour ablation and for increasing drug passage by transiently opening the blood-brain barrier. The area is predominantly preclinical.
41total publications
4clinical studies
29preclinical studies
6reviews
1998–2026publication span
Evidence Status by Regime
Reversible electroporation (RE-ECT)
16publications
2clinical
9preclinical
Preclinical Evidence
1998–2026 · Under Clinical Investigation
Irreversible electroporation (IRE-ECT)
25publications
2clinical
20preclinical
Preclinical Evidence
2011–2026 · Under Clinical Investigation
Mechanisms Reported in This Area
Terms were detected by automatic matching over publication abstracts; the figure gives the number of publications containing the term.
Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation 31
Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death 29
Electric Field Distribution and Modelling 13
Increased Blood–Brain Barrier Permeability 11
Optimisation of Pulse Parameters 9
Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation 6
Thermal Effect and Joule Heating 6
Potentiation of Cytotoxic Drug Permeability 5
Necrosis and Necroptosis 4
Apoptosis Induction 4
Tissue Conductivity and Impedance Change 3
Muscle Contraction and Anaesthesia Requirement 3
Study Type Distribution
Bar length is scaled to the most common study type; the percentage gives the share of the whole area. Colour marks the evidence tier of the study type, the same scale as the evidence map.
| Study type | Publications | Share within this area |
|---|---|---|
| Clinical Study | 4 | 10% |
| Case Report | 2 | 5% |
| Review | 6 | 15% |
| Animal Study | 17 | 41% |
| In Vitro Study | 9 | 22% |
| In Silico / Modelling | 3 | 7% |
Literature Evidence Table
41 publications listed in order of evidence strength. Click a title to open the citation, mechanism and full abstract drawer.
| Regime | Publication | Year | Study type | Model | Mechanism | Abstract |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irreversible | Obereisenbuchner et al · Front Neurol | 2026 | Clinical Study | Human | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation, Preservation of Nerve and Vascular Structures | Introduction: Recently, Bleomycin-Electrosclerotherapy (BEST) has emerged as a novel alternative in the treatment of slow-flow vascular malformations. Regarding the commonly affected head an… |
| Reversible | Blazic et al · Radiol Oncol | 2025 | Clinical Study | Human | Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death | Background: Electroporation-based therapies are being explored in glioblastoma (GB) treatment, as means of enhancing drug delivery or achieving nonthermal ablation. Yet, little is known abou… |
| Irreversible | Ivey et al · Research (Wash D C) | 2019 | Clinical Study | Human | Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death | High-frequency irreversible electroporation (H-FIRE) is a technique that uses pulsed electric fields that have been shown to ablate malignant cells. In order to evaluate the clinical potenti… |
| Reversible | Linnert et al · Radiol Oncol | 2012 | Clinical Study | Human | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | Background: Due to the advanced oncological treatments of cancer, an overall increase in cancer incidence, and better diagnostic tools, the incidence of brain metastases is on the rise. This… |
| Reversible | Cassanelli et al · CVIR Oncol. | 2026 | Case Report | Human | Increased Intracellular Cisplatin Accumulation | Introduction Percutaneous ablation techniques are increasingly used in pediatric oncology, yet electrochemotherapy has not been widely explored in children. Case report We report a 7-year-ol… |
| Irreversible | Garcia et al · Technol Cancer Res Treat | 2011 | Case Report | Human | Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death | Non-thermal irreversible electroporation (N-TIRE) has shown promise as an ablative therapy for a variety of soft-tissue neoplasms. Here we describe the therapeutic planning aspects and first… |
| Reversible | Alinezhadbalalami N · – | 2022 | Review | Literature Analysis | Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death | r Treating Brain Tumors Nastaran Alinezhadbalalami Dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements… |
| Reversible | Fang et al · J Biomech Eng | 2021 | Review | Animal (In Vivo) | Increased Blood–Brain Barrier Permeability, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | Electroporation-based therapy (EBT), as a high-voltage-pulse technology has been prevalent with favorable clinical outcomes in the treatment of various solid tumors. This review paper aims t… |
| Irreversible | Jenkins et al · Adv Sci (Weinh) | 2021 | Review | Human | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Increased Blood–Brain Barrier Permeability | Non-thermal, intermediate frequency (100-500 kHz) electrotherapies present a unique therapeutic strategy to treat malignant neoplasms. Here, pulsed electric fields (PEFs) which induce revers… |
| Irreversible | Garcia et al · Tumors of the Central Nervous System | 2013 | Review | Literature Analysis | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | Abstract. .................................................................. 171 Introduction. ........................................................... 172 Safety Study. ...............… |
| Reversible | Linnert et al · Tumors of the Central Nervous system, Volume 3 | 2011 | Review | Literature Analysis | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | There is an increasing clinical challenge in the treatment of primary and secondary brain tumors, mostly because of a rise in the number of patients diagnosed with brain metastases and the l… |
| Reversible | Linnert et al · Anticancer Drugs | 2009 | Review | Human | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | Bleomycin has been used in the treatment of brain tumors for over 30 years. Currently, we are evaluating electrochemotherapy (the use of electric pulses to enhance uptake of bleomycin) for p… |
| Irreversible | Yadav · Nat Commun | 2025 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death | Current electrode technologies are too rigid for safe and effective delivery of electrotherapy in the brain, and patients with glioblastoma continue to face a devastating prognosis, with med… |
| Reversible | Matta · Sensors (Basel) | 2024 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | The primary method of treatment for patients suffering from drug-resistant focal-onset epilepsy is resective surgery, which adversely impacts neurocognitive function. Radio frequency (RF) ab… |
| Irreversible | Murphy · Sci Rep | 2024 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Increased Blood–Brain Barrier Permeability, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | High-frequency irreversible electroporation (H-FIRE), a nonthermal brain tumor ablation therapeutic, generates a central tumor ablation zone while transiently disrupting the peritumoral bloo… |
| Irreversible | Campelo et al · Front Oncol | 2023 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | Background: Irreversible electroporation (IRE) has been previously investigated in preclinical trials as a treatment for intracranial malignancies. Here, we investigate next generation high-… |
| Irreversible | Murphy et al · Bioelectrochemistry | 2022 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death | Improved therapeutics for malignant brain tumors are urgently needed. High-frequency irreversible electroporation (H-FIRE) is a minimally invasive, nonthermal tissue ablation technique, whic… |
| Irreversible | Partridge · Biomedicines | 2022 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Increased Blood–Brain Barrier Permeability, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | Glioblastoma is the deadliest malignant brain tumor. Its location behind the blood-brain barrier (BBB) presents a therapeutic challenge by preventing effective delivery of most chemotherapeu… |
| Irreversible | Lorenzo · Pharmaceuticals (Basel) | 2021 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Increased Blood–Brain Barrier Permeability, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | The treatment of CNS disorders suffers from the inability to deliver large therapeutic agents to the brain parenchyma due to protection from the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Herein, we investi… |
| Reversible | Sharabi et al · Sci Rep | 2020 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Increased Intracellular Cisplatin Accumulation, Increased Blood–Brain Barrier Permeability | The prognosis of Glioblastoma Multiforme patients is poor despite aggressive therapy. Reasons include poor chemotherapy penetration across the blood-brain barrier and tumor infiltration into… |
| Reversible | Dermol-Černe et al · Bioelectrochemistry | 2018 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death | In electroporation-based medical treatments, excitable tissues are treated, either intentionally (irreversible electroporation of brain cancer, gene electrotransfer or ablation of the heart … |
| Irreversible | Garcia et al · Med Phys | 2017 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Electric Field Distribution and Modelling | Purpose: Irreversible electroporation (IRE) has been developed as a promising minimally invasive treatment to ablate spontaneous brain tumors with pulsed electric fields in canine patients. … |
| Irreversible | Sharabi et al · Radiol Oncol | 2016 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Increased Blood–Brain Barrier Permeability, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death | Background: Electroporation-based therapies such as electrochemotherapy (ECT) and irreversible electroporation (IRE) are emerging as promising tools for treatment of tumors. When applied to … |
| Irreversible | Rossmeisl et al · J Vet Sci | 2013 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Apoptosis Induction, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | This study describes the neuropathologic features of normal canine brain ablated with non-thermal irreversible electroporation (N-TIRE). The parietal cerebral cortices of four dogs were trea… |
| Irreversible | Hjouj et al · PLoS One | 2012 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Increased Blood–Brain Barrier Permeability, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death | Electroporation, is known to induce cell membrane permeabilization in the reversible (RE) mode and cell death in the irreversible (IRE) mode. Using an experimental system designed to produce… |
| Reversible | Agerholm-Larsen et al · Cancer Res | 2011 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation, Potentiation of Cytotoxic Drug Permeability | Electrochemotherapy represents a strategy to enhance chemotherapeutic drug uptake by delivering electrical pulses which exceed the dielectric strength of the cell membrane, causing transient… |
| Irreversible | Arena · Biomed Eng Online | 2011 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Muscle Contraction and Anaesthesia Requirement | Background: Therapeutic irreversible electroporation (IRE) is an emerging technology for the non-thermal ablation of tumors. The technique involves delivering a series of unipolar electric p… |
| Irreversible | Schoellnast et al · Radiology | 2011 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | Purpose: To evaluate whether irreversible electroporation (IRE) has the potential to damage nerves in a porcine model and to compare histopathologic findings after IRE with histopathologic f… |
| Reversible | Engström et al · Bioelectrochemistry and Bioenergetics | 1998 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | This study reports a non-invasive technique to continuously study the uptake and retention of radiopharmaceuticals after in vivo electropermeabilization in tumour bearing rats. A gamma camer… |
| Reversible | Alkis et al · Chem Biodivers | 2023 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | – | Schiff base ligand (L) was obtained by condensation reaction between 4-aminopyrimidin-2(1H)-one (cytosine) with 2-hydroxybenzaldehyde. The synthesized Schiff base was used for complexation w… |
| Irreversible | Shu et al · J Biomech Eng | 2022 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Increased Blood–Brain Barrier Permeability | The lethal electric field (LEF) thresholds for three typical cerebral cells, including a malignant glioblastoma (GBM) cell line and two cell lines from the healthy blood-brain barrier (BBB),… |
| Irreversible | Yu et al · Brain Sci | 2022 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | Apoptosis Induction, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death | The heat-sink effect and thermal damage of conventional thermal ablative technologies can be minimized by irreversible electroporation (IRE), which results in clear ablative boundaries and c… |
| Reversible | Alkış et al · Med Oncol | 2021 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | – | Zn(II) complex of Schiff base derived from the condensation of 4-aminopyrimidine-2(1H)-one with salicylaldehyde was prepared and characterized by various physico-chemical and spectral method… |
| Irreversible | Fesmire et al · Bioelectrochemistry | 2020 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Electric Field Distribution and Modelling | Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is generally considered to be a non-thermal ablation modality. This study was designed to examine the relative effect of temperature on IRE ablation sizes … |
| Reversible | Kim et al · Biochem Biophys Res Commun | 2019 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Transmembrane Potential Change | Electroporation is used for cancer therapy to efficiently destroy cancer tissues by transferring anticancer drugs into cancer cells or by irreversible tumor ablation without resealing pores.… |
| Irreversible | Sano · Sci Rep | 2017 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a promising non-thermal treatment for inoperable tumors which uses short (50-100 μs) high voltage monopolar pulses to disrupt the membranes of cells wit… |
| Irreversible | Wasson et al · Ann Biomed Eng | 2017 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a cellular ablation method used to treat a variety of cancers. IRE works by exposing tissues to pulsed electric fields which cause cell membrane disrupt… |
| Reversible | Chiang et al · Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol | 2014 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | Tissue Conductivity and Impedance Change | Membrane electroporation (MEP) increases the electrical conductivity of the plasma membrane by addition of an external electrical field. Combining MEP-induced current (IMEP ) with antineopla… |
| Irreversible | Guo et al · Bioelectrochemistry | 2026 | In Silico / Modelling | Computational Model | Optimisation of Pulse Parameters, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | Prior studies have left the selection of high frequency irreversible electroporation (H-FIRE) pulse parameters in glioma ablation ambiguous. We developed a pulse waveform-depended glioma abl… |
| Irreversible | Campelo · APL Bioeng | 2024 | In Silico / Modelling | Computational Model | Increased Blood–Brain Barrier Permeability, Muscle Contraction and Anaesthesia Requirement | The blood-brain barrier (BBB) limits the efficacy of treatments for malignant brain tumors, necessitating innovative approaches to breach the barrier. This study introduces burst sine wave e… |
| Irreversible | Mercadal et al · Phys Med Biol | 2017 | In Silico / Modelling | Computational Model | Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death | Electroporation based treatments consist in applying one or multiple high voltage pulses to the tissues to be treated. As an undesired side effect, these pulses cause electrical stimulation … |
Limitations
The counts on this page are bounded by the scope of the source PDF archive and are not a systematic review of the area's literature. Study type and mechanism labels are derived automatically; for critical decisions consult the full texts of the publications listed. The evidence level reflects the number of publications, not their methodological quality.