A technique and apparatus therefor adapted to treat in situ specified
tissue, especially a malignant tumor, use being made of electrodes
implanted in the tissue at spaced positions. Applied across the electrodes
is a voltage causing a current to flow through the tissue to be treated.
This current in one embodiment of the invention produces an
electrochemical reaction yielding multiple reaction products, some of
which are cytotoxic agents destructive of cancer cells, the voltage being
regulated to optimize the yield of those agents having the greatest
efficacy. In another embodiment, fed to the tissue is one or more reagents
which when current flows through the tissue react with the material of an
electrode to yield a cytotoxic agent in situ. Alternatively, the surface
of the electrode can serve as a catalyst for the formation of the
cytotoxic agents.
