Electrochemotherapy as a single or adjuvant treatment to surgery of cutaneous sarcoid tumours in horses: a 31-case retrospective study.
Abstract: The aim of our study was to evaluate the efficacy of electrochemotherapy (ECT) with cisplatin as a single or adjuvant treatment for sarcoids in equids. Different treatment options with different success rates were proposed. Thirty-one horses and one donkey with different clinical type, size and location of tumours were treated with ECT as a single treatment (18 animals with 52 tumour nodules) or as adjuvant treatment with marginal surgical excision (14 animals with 18 tumour nodules). In animals treated only with ECT with cisplatin, complete response was obtained in 48/52 (92.3 per cent) nodules and partial response in the other 4 nodules (7.7 per cent). In most cases, one to three sessions, only in two cases four and in one case five sessions, every 4 weeks were needed to obtain the measurable response. During the observation time, only in one case was the recurrence noted 60 months after treatment. Complete response in all 18 tumour nodules treated with surgery and adjuvant ECT was obtained and only one recurrence was noted after 14 months during the observation time. The results of this study show that ECT with cisplatin is an effective, safe, and simple local treatment of sarcoids in equids. According to the tumour size and location, single or combined treatment should be performed.
British Veterinary Association.
Publication Date: 2016-10-07 PubMed ID: 27758950DOI: 10.1136/vr.103867Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
Summary
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The research studied the effectiveness of a therapy known as electrochemotherapy (ECT) used with the drug cisplatin for treating skin sarcoid tumors in horses. The results showed a high rate of success for the therapy, both as a stand-alone treatment and as supplemental treatment following tumor removal surgery.
Objective
The aim of the study was to assess the efficacy of electrochemotherapy, specifically using the chemotherapy drug cisplatin, as a treatment option for equine sarcoids – a type of skin tumor. There’s a variety of suggested methods to treat sarcoids, all delivering varying degrees of success. The researchers aimed to examine whether ECT could provide a consistently effective solution.
Methodology
- A total of 31 horses and a donkey suffering from sarcoids of dissimilar clinical type, size, and location were included in the study.
- 18 of these animals with 52 tumor nodules were treated using ECT as the standalone treatment, while 14 animals housing 18 tumor nodules had a combination of surgery to partially remove the tumours and an adjuvant (or supplementary) treatment of ECT.
Results
- The animals treated solely with ECT and cisplatin showed a complete response in 92.3% (48 out of 52) of the tumors, and a partial response in the remaining 7.7% (4 out of 52).
- Most cases required between one and three treatment sessions to exhibit a measurable response, although there were cases that needed up to five sessions. These sessions were held every 4 weeks.
- There was a single recurrence noted 60 months post-treatment amongst the ECT-only group.
- All of the tumors treated with surgery and the adjuvant ECT showed a complete response, with one tumor recurring 14 months post-treatment.
Conclusion
The research concluded ECT with cisplatin is a safe, simple, and effective localized treatment for equine sarcoids. The study’s findings suggest it can be used as a standalone treatment, or in conjunction with surgery, dependant on the size and location of the tumor.
Cite This Article
APA
Tozon N, Kramaric P, Kos Kadunc V, Sersa G, Cemazar M.
(2016).
Electrochemotherapy as a single or adjuvant treatment to surgery of cutaneous sarcoid tumours in horses: a 31-case retrospective study.
Vet Rec, 179(24), 627.
https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.103867 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Veterinary Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
- Veterinary Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
- Veterinary Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
- Institute of Oncology Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
- Institute of Oncology Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use
- Chemotherapy, Adjuvant / veterinary
- Cisplatin / therapeutic use
- Combined Modality Therapy
- Electrochemotherapy / methods
- Electrochemotherapy / veterinary
- Equidae
- Female
- Horse Diseases / drug therapy
- Horse Diseases / surgery
- Horses
- Male
- Retrospective Studies
- Skin Neoplasms / drug therapy
- Skin Neoplasms / surgery
- Skin Neoplasms / veterinary
- Treatment Outcome
Citations
This article has been cited 12 times.- Ostendarp C, Barton AK. Intraocular Tumors in Horses: Diagnosis, Tumor Classification, Oncologic Assessment and Therapy. Vet Sci 2025 Oct 17;12(10).
- Fesmire CC, Peal B, Ruff J, Moyer E, McParland TJ, Derks K, O'Neil E, Emke C, Johnson B, Ghosh S, Petrella RA, DeWitt MR, Prange T, Fogle C, Sano MB. Investigation of integrated time nanosecond pulse irreversible electroporation against spontaneous equine melanoma. Front Vet Sci 2024;11:1232650.
- Karalus W, Subharat S, Orbell G, Vaatstra B, Munday JS. Equine sarcoids: A clinicopathologic study of 49 cases, with mitotic count and clinical type predictive of recurrence. Vet Pathol 2024 May;61(3):357-365.
- Tellado M, De Robertis M, Montagna D, Giovannini D, Salgado S, Michinski S, Signori E, Maglietti F. Electrochemotherapy Plus IL-2+IL-12 Gene Electrotransfer in Spontaneous Inoperable Stage III-IV Canine Oral Malignant Melanoma. Vaccines (Basel) 2023 May 27;11(6).
- Tellado M, Michinski S, Impellizeri J, Marshall G, Signori E, Maglietti F. Electrochemotherapy using thin-needle electrode improves recovery in feline nasal planum squamous cell carcinoma - a translational model. Cancer Drug Resist 2022;5(3):595-611.
- Tellado M, Mir LM, Maglietti F. Veterinary Guidelines for Electrochemotherapy of Superficial Tumors. Front Vet Sci 2022;9:868989.
- Spugnini EP, Scacco L, Bolaffio C, Baldi A. Electrochemotherapy for the treatment of cutaneous solid tumors in equids: A retrospective study. Open Vet J 2021 Jul-Sep;11(3):385-389.
- Cemazar M, Sersa G. Recent Advances in Electrochemotherapy. Bioelectricity 2019 Dec 1;1(4):204-213.
- Brloznik M, Kranjc Brezar S, Boc N, Knific T, Cemazar M, Milevoj N, Sersa G, Tozon N, Pavlin D. Results of Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Correlate With Treatment Outcome in Canine Neoplasia Treated With Electrochemotherapy and Interleukin-12 Plasmid Electrotransfer. Front Vet Sci 2021;8:679073.
- Nemec A, Milevoj N, Lampreht Tratar U, Serša G, Čemažar M, Tozon N. Electroporation-Based Treatments in Small Animal Veterinary Oral and Maxillofacial Oncology. Front Vet Sci 2020;7:575911.
- Byron CR, DeWitt MR, Latouche EL, Davalos RV, Robertson JL. Treatment of Infiltrative Superficial Tumors in Awake Standing Horses Using Novel High-Frequency Pulsed Electrical Fields. Front Vet Sci 2019;6:265.
- Racnik J, Svara T, Zadravec M, Gombac M, Cemazar M, Sersa G, Tozon N. Electrochemotherapy with Bleomycin of Different types of Cutaneous Tumours in a Ferret (Mustela Putorius Furo). Radiol Oncol 2018 Mar;52(1):98-104.
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