title: Predictive factors in non-melanoma skin cancers treated with electrochemotherapy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The management of non-melanoma skin cancers may benefit from alternative treatments and in this spectrum electrochemotherapy plays a pivotal role. The aim was to describe the predictive features of patients with cutaneous carcinomas treated with electrochemotherapy, with regard to clinical, pathological and instrumental predictors.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed disease free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) for each patient. Assuming that the effects of the predictor variables are constant over time, the independent predictive factors were assessed by Cox-proportional hazards regression in both univariate and multivariate analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We can assess that in the brief-term (DFS), the patients' age, tumor-site, tumor size, photo-type and the dose of the cytotoxic drug showed a statistical significant better behavior. However, in the multivariate, only the variables tumor's site (P=0.01) and tumor appearance (P=0.03) reached the statistical significance. In the long-term, female patients, patients with a median age ≤70 years, with III-IV photo types and patients, which received a dosage of bleomycin, ≤14 mg/m2 presented a significant better behavior. However in the multivariate analysis a significance was maintained for the variables tumor's appearance (HR: 11.6; 95% CI: 11.56 to 27.5; P=0.01), infiltration (HR:0.11; 95% CI: 0.012 to 0.9; P=0.04), electrode type (HR:0.19; 95% CI:0.04 to 0.8; P=0.03) and photo type (HR:5.7; 95% CI:1.3 to 24.3; P=0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  According to our results, in electrochemotherapy different individual variables can have an important influence, which shows how this treatment could improve. The refinement of the technique and the optimization of patients' selection has the aim to improve the therapeutic response.
authors.affiliation: Dermatologic Clinic, University of Rome &quot;La Sapienza&quot;, Rome, Italy - roryrot@libero.it.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rotunno
authors.affiliation: Dermatologic Clinic, University of Rome &quot;La Sapienza&quot;, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Paolino
authors.affiliation: Dermatologic Clinic, University of Rome &quot;La Sapienza&quot;, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cantisani
authors.affiliation: Dermatologic Clinic, University of Rome &quot;La Sapienza&quot;, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Solito
authors.affiliation: Dermatologic Clinic, University of Rome &quot;La Sapienza&quot;, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Calvieri
authors.affiliation: Dermatologic Clinic, University of Rome &quot;La Sapienza&quot;, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Curatolo
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001761:Bleomycin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D053672:Electrochemotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D018579:Patient Selection; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D001761:Bleomycin