Reduction of intratumoral brain perfusion by noninvasive transcranial electrical stimulation
Menée auprès de 8 patients atteints d'un glioblastome primitif ou de métastases cérébrales ayant pour origine un cancer du poumon (âge moyen : 62,5 ans), cette étude met en évidence l'intérêt d'une stimulation électrique transcrânienne pour réduire de manière sûre et non invasive le flux sanguin intratumoral
Malignant brain neoplasms have a poor prognosis despite aggressive treatments. Animal models and evidence from human bodily tumors reveal that sustained reduction in tumor perfusion via electrical stimulation promotes tumor necrosis, therefore possibly representing a therapeutic option for patients with brain tumors. Here, we demonstrate that transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) allows to safely and noninvasively reduce intratumoral perfusion in humans. Selected patients with glioblastoma or metastasis underwent tES, while perfusion was assessed using magnetic resonance imaging. Multichannel tES was applied according to personalized biophysical modeling, to maximize the induced electrical field over the solid tumor mass. All patients completed the study and tolerated the procedure without adverse effects, with tES selectively reducing the perfusion of the solid tumor. Results potentially open the door to noninvasive therapeutic interventions in brain tumors based on stand-alone tES or its combination with other available therapies.
Science Advances 2019