Efficacy and safety of electrochemotherapy combined with peritumoral IL-12 gene electrotransfer of canine mast cell tumours

Electrochemotherapy combined with peritumoral interleukin-12 (IL-12) gene electrotransfer was used for treatment of mast cell tumours in 18 client-owned dogs. Local tumour control, recurrence rate, as well as safety of combined therapy were evaluated. One month after the therapy, no side effects were recorded and good local tumour control was observed with high complete responses rate which even increased during the observation period to 72%. IL-12 gene electrotransfer resulted in 78% of patients with detectable serum IFN- and/or IL-12 levels. In the treated tumours vascular changes as well as minimal T-lymphocytes infiltration was observed. After 1week, the plasmid DNA was not detected intra- or peritumorally and no horizontal gene transfer was observed. In summary, our study demonstrates high antitumour efficacy of electrochemotherapy combined with IL-12 electrotransfer, which also prevented recurrences or distant metastases, as well as its safety and feasibility in treatment of canine mast cell tumours

Adjuvant electrochemotherapy in veterinary patients: a model for the planning of future therapies in humans

The treatment of soft tissue tumors needs the coordinated adoption of surgery with radiation therapy and eventually, chemotherapy. The radiation therapy (delivered with a linear accelerator) can be preoperative, intraoperative, or postoperative. In selected patients adjuvant brachytherapy can be adopted. The goal of these associations is to achieve tumor control while maximally preserving the normal tissues from side effects. Unfortunately, the occurrence of local and distant complications is still elevated. Electrochemotherapy is a novel technique that combines the administration of anticancer agents to the application of permeabilizing pulses in order to increase the uptake of antitumor molecules. While its use in humans is still confined to the treatment of cutaneous neoplasms or the palliation of skin tumor metastases, in veterinary oncology this approach is rapidly becoming a primary treatment. This review summarizes the recent progresses in preclinical oncology and their possible transfer to humans

Electrochemotherapy and IL-12 for mast cell tumours

Electrochemotherapy combined with peritumoral interleukin-12 (IL-12) gene electrotransfer was used for treatment of mast cell tumours in 18 client-owned dogs. Local tumour control, recurrence rate, as well as safety of combined therapy were evaluated. One month after the therapy, no side effects were recorded and good local tumour control was observed with high complete responses rate which even increased during the observation period to 72%. IL-12 gene electrotransfer resulted in 78% of patients with detectable serum IFN-γ and/or IL-12 levels. In the treated tumours vascular changes as well as minimal T-lymphocytes infiltration was observed. After 1 week, the plasmid DNA was not detected intra- or peritumorally and no horizontal gene transfer was observed. In summary, our study demonstrates high antitumour efficacy of electrochemotherapy combined with IL-12 electrotransfer, which also prevented recurrences or distant metastases, as well as its safety and feasibility in treatment of canine mast cell tumours