Exploring Tissue Response to Field Mediated Plasmid Delivery

A non-viral treatment protocol for melanoma requires that the therapeutic agent be reliably delivered at the tissue target followed by an appropriate tumor destructive response. Electric field mediated drug delivery or plasmid delivery have been clinically demonstrated as successful treatment protocols for primary tumors and metastatic disease, respectively. However, in both treatment protocols, the challenge to develop a method and appropriate instrument system to predict the therapeutic impact of a given protocol on the target tumor still remains. Evidence developed by this research team strongly suggests that impedance spectroscopy may provide a basis for a rapid in-vivo monitor that will allow the treating physician to assess the potential of successful protein expression for a specific patient at the time of treatment.