Low and high voltage electroporation of in vitro human ovarian adenocarcinoma cells

The pitiful, overall cure rate of only approximately 30% of ovarian cancer for several years now indicates the complexity of the organ and the inadequacy of current standard of care. Often the tumors are also chemo-resistant. Thus, there is a critical need for alternate therapies. Electroporation, a physical technique of applying high intensity electrical voltage pulses of appropriate magnitude for short durations (microseconds) that transiently creates pores or permeabilizes cell membranes, enabling macromolecules to pass through which otherwise are impermeable, is a viable alternative. This technique, which has a wide scope in in vitro biotechnology to deliver molecules inside any living cell, is also currently being exploited for therapeutic purposes. Here we report our results on the application of various low and high voltage pulses of different durations and their effect on the viability of SKOV-3, human ovarian cancer cells. This treatment modality, using electrical pulses only paves the way for adapting this technique for alternate clinical treatment of ovarian cancer patients.