Resumen
Gastric cancer remains the leading cause of death worldwide. Irreversible electroporation is a relatively new ablation technique used for cancer treatment. The present study employed tissue immunohistochemistry to semi-quantitatively assess apoptosis levels in the stomach following irreversible electroporation. This study was designed to understand how changes in the intensity of electrical energy levels influence the expansion and restoration of the apoptotic area within the stomach. As the electrical amplitude increases, the immunohistochemistry of activated cleaved caspase-3 increases, followed by a subsequent decrease, whereas TUNEL staining continues to increase. Masson?s trichrome staining revealed the number of fibroblasts to increase for 7 days, returning to baseline levels by day 14. Apoptosis is biphasically regulated by electrical energy. The efficacy of tumor destruction by irreversible electroporation does not improve linearly with higher electrical intensity; rather, optimal apoptosis arising from the immunological cascade occurs at specific energies. Other electrical parameters should be further investigated.