GALVANOTHERAPY

ELECTROCHEMICAL TUMOR THERAPY (BET/ECT)
Contemporary, alternative cancer therapy uses a method already discovered by the Italian biophysicist Luigi Galvani (1737 – 1798) in the 18th century. In his time, Galvani was a well-known medical practitioner and anatomist who had discovered a correlation between muscle movements and electricity and used weak electric currents to treat various diseases. The therapy was thus named after Galvani and has been further improved in the following centuries. It is widely used in orthopaedics and neurology for the treatment of arthritis and deteriorations of the musculoskeletal system. In cancer treatment the use of galvanic electricity is relatively new. It is based on the research of the medical scientists Rudolf Pekar and Bjoern Nordenstroem. In 1988, Nordenstroem introduced the treatment he named bio-electric/electrochemical therapy (BET/ECT) to China where, today, the effective and cost-efficient therapy is performed in more than 108 hospitals. The therapy is also successfully used in Germany, Austria, Denmark, the USA and Italy.

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF BET/ECT
With BET/ECT tumor cells are neither excised nor removed by invasive methods but are destroyed by means of direct current. Expressed in very simple terms, combating tumors by means of electrical currents works as follows: Two electrodes are used to apply a current to the tumor. According to the principle of least resistance the current rather flows through the tumor cells than healthy tissue. Positively charged ions such as H+ and Na+ thus move towards the cathode while negatively charged ions such as CI- move towards the anode. Within the cancer cell, the depolarization produces hydrochloric acid which destroys the cell membrane. A high intensity of electric current and voltage then creates pH values in the affected cells that lie far outside the physiological scope.



TREATMENT
BET/ECTtreatment is a very gentle treatment method with no side effects. In the actual treatment flat electrodes are applied externally to the tumorous area. Light direct current is channelled through the locally confined area; the tumour tissue is put under electric current. Thus, the method makes use of the higher conductivity of tumour tissues. The flow of the direct current modifies the pH value of the cells and destroys the cells’ membranes. The tumour dies off. If the cancer tumour is located on the surface, e.g. skin cancer, it is rejected by the body. Inside the body endogenous scavenger cells provide for the removal of dead cells. The positive effect of this form of treatment is that the cytocidal effects solely act on tumour tissue. Affected organs and adjacent tissue are not injured. This form of cancer therapy also features a positive side effect: The procedure releases tumour antigens which activate the immune system. These antigens attract further immune cells thus accelerating the reduction of cancer cells. The therapy is usually applied ambulatory and lasts between 1 and 3 hours. The patient is continuously monitored during the treatment, and the procedure is computer-controlled.
The patient does not experience any pain; in individual cases a slight prickling sensation is noticed. So far, no side effects have been recorded. After the treatment, patients are able to go home by themselves.

WHAT IS TREATABLE?
BET/ECT therapy is particularly suitable for inoperable shallow or lower tumour types.

These include:

• Breast carcinoma
• Skin carcinoma (Basaliome, Spinaliome, Melanome)
• Skin metastases
• Soft-part metastases
• Organ metastases

UNTREATABLE ARE:
Tumours and metastases on critical body parts such as: heart, brain, eye, bones, vertebrae, kidney, ureter bladder, uterus
Leukaemia, Morbus Hodgkin
Active autoimmune diseases, serious heart-kidney diseases
Pregnant and breast feeding women, infants
Patients with cardiac pacemakers need to contact a cardiologist