Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Electrochemotherapy outcomes in cats with advanced nasal cancer
By Ferrer-Jorda, Elena & Rodríguez-Pizà, Ignacio·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2024·ries Hospital Veterinari, Spain·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Description of outcome and adverse events in 21 cats with locally advanced nasal planum squamous cell carcinoma treated with electrochemotherapy.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 21 cats with advanced squamous cell carcinoma (a type of skin cancer) on their noses underwent a treatment called electrochemotherapy. Remarkably, 19 of these cats had their tumors completely disappear, while 2 had partial responses. On average, those with complete responses remained cancer-free for about 182 days, and the overall survival time was around 453 days. Although some cats experienced significant side effects, none died from the treatment, suggesting that electrochemotherapy could be a promising option for treating this type of cancer in cats.
People also search for: cat nasal cancer treatment · electrochemotherapy for cats · squamous cell carcinoma in cats · side effects of cat cancer treatment
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the most common tumour in the nasal planum of cats. Surgery has traditionally been the treatment of choice but might not be feasible in locally advanced scenarios. Electrochemotherapy (ECT) has shown good control in superficial tumours, but there is a lack of robust information about efficacy in locally advanced cases. The aim of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of ECT in the treatment of locally advanced stage nasal planum SCC in cats. METHODS: The clinical database of a veterinary referral hospital was searched retrospectively for cats diagnosed with a locally advanced nasal planum SCC (TNMor TNM) that had received ECT. Local response, adverse events and outcome were documented. The data were evaluated by inferential statistics and correlations between response, recurrence, feline immunodeficiency virus/feline leukaemia virus status, number of treatments, voltage and severity of adverse events, with Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank tests. Statistical significance was set at<0.05. RESULTS: In total, 21 cats were enrolled over a 4-year period. Nineteen cats achieved a complete response (CR) and two cats a partial response (PR) for an overall response rate of 100%. Cats achieving a CR had a median disease-free interval of 182 days (range 128-327) and those with a PR had a median progression-free survival of 156.5 days (range 122-191). The median time to progression was not reached. The overall survival was 453 days for a median follow-up of 341 days (range 191-989). Of the cats, 62% had grade 3 or 4 toxicities, but no deaths due to the treatment were documented. Only voltage was correlated with longer survival ( = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: ECT appears to be an effective treatment for feline nasal planum SCC and could be considered a first-line therapy for locally advanced cases. Toxicities reported can be severe in the short term and these could be secondary to more invasive lesions and equipment used.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39073984/