title: Successful treatment of equine sarcoids with cisplatin electrochemotherapy: a retrospective study of 48 cases.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Sarcoids are the commonest form of equine skin tumour. Several therapeutic measures have been described but none is considered to be universally effective. Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is a new anticancer therapy that utilises electrical field pulses to induce increased cell membrane permeability to antitumour hydrophilic drugs, such as cisplatin. The increased intracellular concentration of the drugs has a significant therapeutic benefit. The procedure has not been previously reported in a large number of horses.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To validate ECT as a novel alternative treatment for equine sarcoids.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective study evaluating the efficacy of cisplatin ECT in the treatment of equine sarcoids was performed. Electrochemotherapy treatments were applied under general anaesthesia at 2 week intervals with or without prior excision or debulking. Electric pulses were directly applied to the lesions following intra-tumoural injections of an aqueous solution of cisplatin.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One-hundred-and-ninety-four sarcoids on 34 horses, 2 ponies, 11 donkeys and one mule were treated with ECT. The 4 year nonrecurrence rate was 97.9% for animals (47/48) and 99.5% (193/194) for tumours. When ECT was used as a single treatment, a significant influence of tumour size (ρ= 0.55) on the number of treatments required for cure was shown. When prior surgery was performed, there was a significant influence (P<0.001) of the excision quality (complete or incomplete) and the healing mode (closed or open wound) on the number of treatments. The most common adverse effect was a slight oedematous reaction for lesions located on thin skin regions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results demonstrate that ECT, with or without concurrent tumour debulking, is an effective alternative for treatment of equine sarcoids.
authors.affiliation: Equine Internal Medicine, and Educational Unit of Biostatistics, Université de Toulouse, INP, ENVT, Toulouse, France. y.tamzali@envt.fr
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tamzali
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Borde
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Rols
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Golzio
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lyazrhi
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Teissie
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D053672:Electrochemotherapy / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*; D005260:Female; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D006736:Horses; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy / Q000662:veterinary*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D002945:Cisplatin