A Retrospective Multicentric Study of Electrochemotherapy in the Treatment of Feline Nasal Planum Squamous Cell Carcinoma

• Published in: Veterinary sciences Vol. 8; no. 3; p. 53
• Main Authors: Simčič, Petra, Pierini, Alessio, Lubas, George, Lowe, Ron, Granziera, Valentina, Tornago, Raimondo, Valentini, Fabio, Alterio, Giulia, Cochi, Matteo, Rangel, Marcelo Monte Mor, de Oliveira, Krishna Duro, Ostrand Freytag, Jennifer, Quadros, Priscila Gil, Sponza, Enrico, Gattino, Francesca, Impellizeri, Joseph A, Torrigiani, Filippo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI 22.03.2021; MDPI AG
• Subjects: bleomycin; electrochemotherapy; feline; nasal planum; squamous cell carcinoma; toxicity; toxicity; bleomycin; multicentric; feline; electrochemotherapy; retrospective; nasal planum; squamous cell carcinoma
• ISSN: 2306-7381; 2306-7381
• DOI: 10.3390/vetsci8030053

Feline squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is currently treated with surgery, radiation therapy and electrochemotherapy (ECT). Both the efficacy and/or safety of ECT were evaluated as a sole therapy with bleomycin to treat feline nasal planum SCC (npSCC). Sixty-one cats were enrolled. Local treatment response was evaluated as complete remission (CR), partial remission (PR) or stable disease (SD). Recurrence rate (RR), disease-free interval (DFI) and progression free survival (PFS) were calculated. A six-point scale was used for ECT toxicity. The median tumor size was 1.5 cm. CR was achieved in 65.6% of cases, PR in 31.1% and SD in 3.3%. The overall response rate was 96.7%, RR was 22.5%, median DFI was 136 days, and median PFS was 65.5 days. ECT toxicity was ≤2 in 51% of cats. Tumor recurrence/progression ( = 0.014) and local treatment response (PR: < 0.001; SD: < 0.001) influenced survival time. Cats with toxicity >2 showed a higher probability of tumor recurrence/progression. Tumor-related death was higher in cats with PR ( < 0.001) and recurrence/progression ( = 0.002), in ECT treatment with 1 Hz ( = 0.035) and 1200 V/cm ( = 0.011) or 1300 V/cm ( = 0.016). Tumor size influenced local treatment response ( = 0.008) and toxicity ( < 0.001). ECT is an effective treatment for feline npSCCs and should be considered as the first-line procedure for low-stage tumors.