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Abstract: Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is a cancer treatment that combines application of short electrical pulses with chemotherapy drugs to improve their delivery into tumor cells. Bleomycin is one of the most effective drugs used in ECT, but its success can vary depending on the tumor type. One possible reason is the presence of bleomycin hydrolase (BLMH), an enzyme that inactivates bleomycin. In this study, we measured BLMH levels in different mouse tumor cell lines and tumors grown in animals. Thereafter we compared the levels of BLMH with tumor response to ECT and found a correlation with BLMH content, i.e., tumors with higher BLMH content responded poorly. These findings suggest that levels of BLMH could serve as a predictive marker for ECT effectiveness. Testing for BLMH before treatment may help personalize therapy and identify patients most likely to benefit from ECT.
Keywords: electrochemotherapy, bleomycin hydrolase, predictive biomarker, murine models
Published in DiRROS: 20.04.2026; Views: 194; Downloads: 151
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Abstract: Background: The quality of life of patients undergoing oncologic treatment has become an important issue in recent years. Owing to potential mutilation following surgery for vulvar cancer, more conservative approaches have evolved with the integration of new local ablative therapies, such as electrochemotherapy. The aim of this study was to determine the quality of life of women with vulvar cancer recurrence treated with electrochemotherapy for nonpalliative purposes. Patients and methods: Eleven patients with vulvar cancer recurrence were treated with electrochemotherapy from July 2020 to December 2023. Patients completed different questionnaires: the EuroQol - 5 Dimension (EQ-5D), European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30), European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Vulva Cancer 34 (EORTC QLQ-VU34) and visual analog pain scale (VAS) before and one, three and six months after electrochemotherapy. As a control group, fifteen patients with vulvar cancer recurrence treated with wide local excision completed the EORTC QLQ-C30 and VAS questionnaires before surgery and three and six months after surgery. Results: No significant differences in EQ-5D scores were found between quality of life before electrochemotherapy and at each follow-up visit. A comparison of the EORTC QLQ-C30 scores between the electrochemotherapy and surgery groups showed a significant difference in physical functioning, fatigue, insomnia, and global health status three months after the procedure and in role, cognitive, social functioning and appetite loss six months after the procedure, all of which were in favor of the electrochemotherapy group. The EORTC QLQ-VU34 questionnaire showed improvements in urinary symptoms and symptoms related to scarring and mutilation of the external genitalia in the electrochemotherapy group. The VAS score did not differ significantly between the electrochemotherapy and surgical groups. Conclusions: The study showed that the quality of life after treatment with electrochemotherapy is better in some segments than after surgical treatment.
Keywords: bleomycin, electrochemotherapy, quality of life
Published in DiRROS: 16.01.2026; Views: 357; Downloads: 143
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Abstract: Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is a minimally invasive treatment option for basal cell carcinoma (BCC), which is particularly advantageous in the elderly population. This study evaluated the long-term effects of treating BCC in older patients using ECT with a reduced dose of bleomycin (10,000 IU/m2) and compared the results to patients who received the standard dose of bleomycin (15,000 IU/m2). The retrospective analysis included 116 patients aged over 65 years with 257 histologically confirmed BCCs. Tumors were treated with either the standard dose (n = 82) or the reduced dose (n = 175) of bleomycin. The results showed that the recurrence rate was comparable between the groups, particularly in the first year after treatment. The reduced-dose group exhibited a greater recurrence rate after the first year, which may be attributed to a weaker local immune response due to the de-escalated dose of bleomycin. Nonetheless, administering a standard bleomycin dosage as a salvage treatment in the event of recurrence proved highly effective. These findings suggest that ECT with a reduced bleomycin dose is a viable option for treating BCC in elderly patients, particularly those with shorter life expectancy.
Keywords: bleomycin, electrochemotherapy, head and neck, nonmelanoma skin cancer
Published in DiRROS: 25.11.2025; Views: 737; Downloads: 296
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Abstract: Background. Electrochemotherapy has good local effectiveness in the treatment of vulvar cancer. Most studies have reported the safety and effectiveness of electrochemotherapy for palliative treatment of gynecological cancers and mostly vulvar squamous cell carcinoma. Some tumors, however, fail to respond to electrochemotherapy. The biological features/determinants for the nonresponsiveness are not determined yet. Patient and methods. A recurrence of vulvar squamous cell carcinoma was treated by electrochemotherapy using intravenous administration of bleomycin. The treatment was performed by hexagonal electrodes according to standard operating procedures. We analyzed the factors that could determine nonresponsiveness to electrochemotherapy. Results. Based on the presented case of nonresponsive vulvar recurrence to electrochemotherapy, we hypothesize that the vasculature of the tumors prior to treatment may predict the response to electrochemotherapy. The histological analysis showed minimal presence of blood vessels in the tumor. Thus, low perfusion may reduce drug delivery and lead to a lower response rate because of the minor antitumor effectiveness of vascular disruption. In this case, no immune response in the tumor was elicited by electrochemotherapy. Conclusions. In this case, of nonresponsive vulvar recurrence treated by electrochemotherapy, we analyzed possible factors that could predict treatment failure. Based on histological analysis, low vascularization of the tumor was observed, which hampered drug delivery and distribution and resulted in no vascular disrupting action of electrochemotherapy. All these factors could contribute to ineffective treatment with electrochemotherapy.
Keywords: electrochemotherapy, bleomycin, vulvar cancer
Published in DiRROS: 25.07.2024; Views: 1332; Downloads: 548
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Keywords: melanoma therapy, bleomycin, electric stimulation therapy
Published in DiRROS: 15.01.2024; Views: 1398; Downloads: 421
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