Combining electrochemotherapy with a Toll Like receptor agonist for the treatment of lung cancer

Dr. Patrick Forde

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among men and women in Ireland. Successful lung cancer treatment aims to totally eliminate the tumour and the risk of recurrence. Lung cancer treatment currently relies on the removal of the tumour by surgery or radiotherapy, followed by chemotherapy to destroy any remaining cancer cells which may be circulating in the body. At CancerResearch@UCC we have been examining these two aspects of treatment (removal of the tumour and the cancer cells circulating in the body) to eliminate the tumour non-invasively and recruit an immune response against any remaining cancer cells.

Relevant References:

Bendix, M. B., Houston, A., Forde, P. F., & Brint, E. (2022b). Electrochemotherapy and immune interactions; A boost to the system? European Journal of Surgical Oncology.

Bendix, M. B., Houston, A., Forde, P. F., & Brint, E. (2022). Defining optimal parameters to maximize the effect of electrochemotherapy on lung cancer cells whilst preserving the integrity of immune cells. Bioelectrochemistry, 148, 108257.

Bendix, M. B., Brint, E., & Forde, P. F. (2021). Electroporation of suspension cell lines – A proposed assay set for optimizations. Bioelectrochemistry, 142, 107891.

Tremble LF, O’Brien MA, Soden DM, Forde PF. Electrochemotherapy with cisplatin increases survival and induces immunogenic responses in murine models of lung cancer and colorectal cancer. Cancer Lett. 2019 Feb 1;442:475-482. doi: 10.1016/j.canlet.2018.11.015. Epub 2018 Nov 22. PMID: 30472183.

The image below shows Maura (7th from the right) at the World Congress on electroporation-based therapies and treatments in Toulouse, where she presented her research in 2019.