In that trial, cats were randomized to receive bleomycin ± the implant of 30 × 106 CHO cells (secreting interleukin 2) followed by the application of square pulses. The study was completed by a small cohort of untreated cats that acted as control. The authors described only one partial response however, they claimed a prolonged survival in 12 cats receiving ECT versus 11 untreated controls. This minimal response rate could be partially

due to the previous treatments that led to the development of chemoresistance. In fact, it is known that radioresistant neoplasms have increased DNA repair which is one of the described mechanisms of resistance to bleomycin as well, at least in cell lines learn more [15]. After this preliminary investigation, two phase I/II studies were conducted in companion animals; in the first a cohort of dogs and cats were treated with intralesional cisplatin coupled with square electric pulses [23] while in the second they received intralesional bleomycin driven by trains of biphasic pulses [19]. The overall response rate of this

second investigation was 80% with a 40% of long lasting remissions. This study evidenced that among the treated neoplasms, canine hemangiopericytomas were particularly responsive to this approach. This work Blasticidin S ic50 evidenced two problems of ECT: the need of specifically tailored electrodes for the therapy of soft tissue neoplasms and the major obstacle to a smooth permeabilization represented by the high content of connective tissue within solid tumors [24]. Currently, ECT is preferentially adopted as single modality only for tumors very susceptible to electroporation such as melanomas and perianal adenomas [34–36] or relatively small in size and easily accessible like sun-induced nasal carcinomas [29]. In selected patients with cutaneous epitheliotropic and non-epitheliotropic lymphoma this therapy can lead to successful palliation or even extended local control and, consequently, survival [37]. After the development of novel electrodes [25], several phase II studies were conducted in our

Institution to evaluate the potential of ECT as adjuvant treatment after surgical cytoreduction of bulky tumors mimicking the protocols of intraoperative radiation therapy [38]. A preclinical study involving cats with soft tissue sarcomas, Glutamate dehydrogenase evaluated the potentials of intraoperative and check details postoperative ECT [26]. Cats were randomized to the following groups: surgery single modality, surgery plus intraoperative ECT and surgery plus postoperative ECT. The study underlined the significant advantage offered by adjuvant ECT in terms of local control and overall survival compared to surgery alone. Time to recurrence was 12 and 19 months for the intraoperative and postoperative cohorts respectively, while the tumors treated with surgery alone recurred within an average of 4 months.