Electrochemotherapy as a single treatment or adjuvant treatment to surgery of cutaneous sarcoid tumours in horses: a 31‐case retrospective study

Abstract

The aim of our study was to evaluate the efficacy of electrochemotherapy (ECT) with cisplatin as a single or adjuvant treatment for sarcoids in equids. Different treatment options with different success rates were proposed. Thirty-one horses and one donkey with different clinical type, size and location of tumours were treated with ECT as a single treatment (18 animals with 52 tumour nodules) or as adjuvant treatment with marginal surgical excision (14 animals with 18 tumour nodules). In animals treated only with ECT with cisplatin, complete response was obtained in 48/52 (92.3 per cent) nodules and partial response in the other 4 nodules (7.7 per cent). In most cases, one to three sessions, only in two cases four and in one case five sessions, every 4 weeks were needed to obtain the measurable response. During the observation time, only in one case was the recurrence noted 60 months after treatment. Complete response in all 18 tumour nodules treated with surgery and adjuvant ECT was obtained and only one recurrence was noted after 14 months during the observation time. The results of this study show that ECT with cisplatin is an effective, safe, and simple local treatment of sarcoids in equids. According to the tumour size and location, single or combined treatment should be performed.

A combination of electrochemotherapy, gene electrotransfer of plasmid encoding canine IL-12 and cytoreductive surgery in the treatment of canine oral malignant melanoma

“…ECT combined with IL-12 GET already proved to be a safe and efficient method for treating tumors. A pronounced and long-term antitumor effect was observed in mast cell tumors with 72 % CR (median observation time: 40 months) (Cemazar et al, 2016), while on the histological level, an effective induction of a cellular response against neoplastic cells, characterized mainly by the recruitment of Tlymphocytes and macrophages and a fibrotic proliferation with reduction of microvessels, was seen (Salvadori et al, 2017). The same treatment was also already used in selected oral tumors, such as acanthomatous ameloblastoma and squamous cell carcinoma, in which ORs of 70 % and up to 100 % were achieved (Cutrera et al, 2015(Cutrera et al, , 2008Reed et al, 2010).…”

“…One of the emerging treatments in veterinary oncology is electrochemotherapy (ECT) (Impellizeri et al, 2016;Kodre et al, 2009;Maglietti et al, 2017;Spugnini et al, 2013;Tamzali et al, 2012;Tozon et al, 2016Tozon et al, , 2014 which disrupts the tumor cells locally, but has yet no proven effect on distant metastases when used as a sole treatment (Heppt et al, 2016;Sersa et al, 2015).…”

“…Gene electrotransfer of plasmid encoding interleukin 12 (IL-12 GET) is an efficient method for tumor control (Cemazar et al, 2016;Cutrera et al, 2015;Reed et al, 2010), especially when the plasmid is injected intratumorally (Pavlin et al 2009). IL-12 activates primarily NK cells and T lymphocytes.…”

Soft tissue sarcoma in dogs: A treatment review and a novel approach using electrochemotherapy in a case series

“…In addition, the application of ECT intraoperative vs post‐operative in feline STS has been also reported . ECT with intralesional cisplatin has been proven effective and safe for the treatment of equine cutaneous sarcoids, used either as single or adjuvant treatment depending on the studies . Finally, ECT has also been reported for the treatment of miscellaneous tumours in exotic species (ie, ferret and pet rats) with promising results …”

“…45 ECT with intralesional cisplatin has been proven effective and safe for the treatment of equine cutaneous sarcoids, used either as single or adjuvant treatment depending on the studies. 46,47 Finally, ECT has also been reported for the treatment of miscellaneous tumours in exotic species (ie, ferret and pet rats) with promising results. 48,49 To the best of our knowledge, there are only two papers that investigated ECT on canine sarcomas.…”