title: The promising alliance of anti-cancer electrochemotherapy with immunotherapy.
abstract: Anti-tumor electrochemotherapy, which consists in increasing anti-cancer drug uptake by means of electroporation, is now implanted in about 140 cancer treatment centers in Europe. Its use is supported by the English National Institute for Health and Care Excellence for the palliative treatment of skin metastases, and about 13,000 cancer patients were treated by this technology by the end of 2015. Efforts are now focused on turning this local anti-tumor treatment into a systemic one. Electrogenetherapy, that is the electroporation-mediated transfer of therapeutic genes, is currently under clinical evaluation and has brought excitement to enlarge the anti-cancer armamentarium. Among the promising electrogenetherapy strategies, DNA vaccination and cytokine-based immunotherapy aim at stimulating anti-tumor immunity. We review here the interests and state of development of both electrochemotherapy and electrogenetherapy. We then emphasize the potent beneficial outcome of the combination of electrochemotherapy with immunotherapy, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors or strategies based on electrogenetherapy, to simultaneously achieve excellent local debulking anti-tumor responses and systemic anti-metastatic effects.
authors.affiliation: Vectorology and Anticancer Therapies, UMR8203, CNRS, Univ. Paris-Sud, Gustave Roussy, Université Paris-Saclay, 94805, Villejuif, France.
authors.forename: Christophe Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Calvet
authors.affiliation: Vectorology and Anticancer Therapies, UMR8203, CNRS, Univ. Paris-Sud, Gustave Roussy, Université Paris-Saclay, 94805, Villejuif, France. luis.mir@cnrs.fr.
authors.forename: Lluis M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Mir
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D016207:Cytokines / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D053672:Electrochemotherapy / Q000379:methods; D018274:Electroporation; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D015316:Genetic Therapy / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007155:Immunologic Factors / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical; D019444:Vaccines, DNA / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D016207:Cytokines; D007155:Immunologic Factors; D019444:Vaccines, DNA
keywords: Cancer; Electrochemotherapy; Electrogenetherapy; Immunity; Immunotherapy; Metastasis