Timing of antioxidant supplementation is critical in improving anorexia in an experimental model of cancer.

Increased oxidative stress may contribute to cancer anorexia, which could be ameliorated by antioxidant supplementation. methylcholanthrene (MCA) sarcoma-bearing Fisher rats were studied. After tumour inoculation, rats were randomly assigned to standard diet (CTR group, n = 6), or to an antioxidant-enriched diet (AOX group, n = 8). Eight more rats (STD-AOX group) switched from standard to antioxidant diet when anorexia developed. At the end of the study, food intake (FI, g/d), body weight and tumour weight (g) were recorded, and plasma samples were obtained. On day 16, anorexia has appeared only in CTR and STD-AOX animals. At the end of the study, FI in AOX animals was still higher than in the other groups (p = 0.08). No differences in body and tumour weights were observed among groups. However, hydrogen peroxide and interleukin-1ß levels were significantly reduced only in AOX rats. Data obtained suggest that early antioxidant supplementation improves cancer anorexia, ameliorates oxidative stress and reduces inflammation.

Preclinical models in electrochemotherapy: the role of veterinary patients.

Electrochemotherapy is a tumor treatment that adapts the systemic or local delivery of anticancer drugs by the application of permeabilizing electric pulses with appropriate amplitude and waveforms. This allows the use of lipophobic drugs, which frequently have a narrow therapeutic index, with a decreased morbidity for the patient, while maintaining appropriate anticancer efficacy. Electrochemotherapy is used in humans for the treatment of cutaneous neoplasms or the palliation of skin tumor metastases, and a standard operating procedure has been devised. In veterinary oncology, the electrochemotherapy approach is gaining popularity, becoming a first-line treatment in consideration of its high efficacy and low toxicity. This review summarizes the state of the art in veterinary oncology as a preclinical model.

Potential role of electrochemotherapy for the treatment of soft tissue sarcoma: first insights from preclinical studies in animals.

Local management of soft tissue sarcoma in humans generally involves multi-modality approaches whose cornerstones are surgery combined with radiation therapy. The usual radiation protocols are based on preoperative, intraoperative, or postoperative external beam treatment or adjuvant brachytherapy. The aim of these strategies is to maximize tumor control while minimizing side effects, especially in the case of limb sarcomas. Unfortunately, the rate of local wound complication associated with aggressive surgical management and radiation therapy are still elevated. Electrochemotherapy is an anticancer technique that gained popularity over the past 15 years. It involves the administration of anticancer agents to the application of permeabilizing pulses so to increase the uptake of antitumor molecules. Goal of this review is to underline the advances in this field obtained from animal studies in order to point out the possible therapeutic applications of this technique for the treatment of soft tissue sarcomas in humans.

Adjuvant electrochemotherapy for the treatment of incompletely resected canine mast cell tumors.

BACKGROUND: Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is a novel anticancer therapy that combines the delivery of trains of appropriate waveforms with the local administration of chemotherapy agents. The purpose of this investigation was to assess the adjuvant potentials of ECT for the treatment of incompletely excised mast cell tumors (MCT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-eight privately-owned dogs with incompletely removed MCT were treated with intralesional bleomycin (1.5 IU/cm2) followed by the application of trains of biphasic pulses (8 pulses, 1300 V/cm, 50 + 50 micros duration, 1 Hz frequency). RESULTS: The overall response rate was 85% with a mean estimated time to recurrence of 52.76 +/- 6.5 months (range: 39.99 to 65.54 months, 95% CI). At the time of writing this report, the median survival time was not reached. Three dogs died of metastatic disease that they developed at the same time of local recurrence, one developed multiple cutaneous nodules at different locations and one with recurrence was re-treated and is currently disease-free after 22 months. No major local or systemic toxicities were noted for the duration of the study. CONCLUSION: ECT is a safe and effective therapy for incompletely excised MCTs in companion animals. Its ease of administration, lack of toxicities and low cost make it an attractive alternative to standard treatments and warrants further investigation.