Adjuvant electrochemotherapy for the treatment of incompletely resected canine mast cell tumors.
BACKGROUND
Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is a novel anticancer therapy that combines the delivery of trains of appropriate waveforms with the local administration of chemotherapy agents. The purpose of this investigation was to assess the adjuvant potentials of ECT for the treatment of incompletely excised mast cell tumors (MCT).


METHODS
Twenty-eight privately-owned dogs with incompletely removed MCT were treated with intralesional bleomycin (1.5 IU/cm2) followed by the application of trains of biphasic pulses (8 pulses, 1300 V/cm, 50 + 50 micros duration, 1 Hz frequency).


RESULTS
The overall response rate was 85% with a mean estimated time to recurrence of 52.76 +/- 6.5 months (range: 39.99 to 65.54 months, 95% CI). At the time of writing this report, the median survival time was not reached. Three dogs died of metastatic disease that they developed at the same time of local recurrence, one developed multiple cutaneous nodules at different locations and one with recurrence was re-treated and is currently disease-free after 22 months. No major local or systemic toxicities were noted for the duration of the study.


CONCLUSIONS
ECT is a safe and effective therapy for incompletely excised MCTs in companion animals. Its ease of administration, lack of toxicities and low cost make it an attractive alternative to standard treatments and warrants further investigation.
Spugnini
Enrico P
EP
S.A.F.U. Department, Regina Elena Cancer Institute, Rome, Italy. info@enricospugnini.net
Vincenzi
Bruno
B
Baldi
Feliciano
F
Citro
Gennaro
G
Baldi
Alfonso
A
D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D004285:Dogs; D004599:Electric Stimulation Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D034801:Mastocytoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy* / Q000662:veterinary; D012008:Recurrence
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents