Electroporation in Translational Medicine: From Veterinary Experience to Human Oncology.

Electroporation (EP) is a broadly accepted procedure that, through the application of electric pulses with appropriate amplitudes and waveforms, promotes the delivery of anticancer molecules in various oncology therapies. EP considerably boosts the absorptivity of targeted cells to anticancer molecules of different natures, thus upgrading their effectiveness. Its use in veterinary oncology has been widely explored, and some applications, such as electrochemotherapy (ECT), are currently approved as first-line treatments for several neoplastic conditions.

Electrochemotherapy in Translational Medicine: From Veterinary Experience to Human Oncology.

Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is a tumor treatment that, through the application of electric pulses with suitable amplitude and waveforms, favors the systemic or local delivery of chemotherapy agents. This procedure significantly increases the permeability of cancer cells to anticancer drugs, making them more effective and allowing their use at lower doses with less morbidity for patients. Its use in veterinary oncology is consolidated and it is currently adopted as first-line treatment for different cancers with successful results.

Electrochemotherapy: An Alternative Strategy for Improving Therapy in Drug-Resistant SOLID Tumors.

Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is one of the innovative strategies to overcome the multi drug resistance (MDR) that often occurs in cancer. Resistance to anticancer drugs results from a variety of factors, such as genetic or epigenetic changes, an up-regulated outflow of drugs, and various cellular and molecular mechanisms. This technology combines the administration of chemotherapy with the application of electrical pulses, with waveforms capable of increasing drug uptake in a non-toxic and well tolerated mechanical system.

Electrochemotherapy for the treatment of cutaneous solid tumors in equids: A retrospective study.

Background: Electrochemotherapy (ECT) promotes the increased uptake of antitumor agents through the administration of permeabilizing electric pulses, thus enhancing chemotherapy effectiveness.

Aim: Our study aimed to describe the tolerability and efficacy of ECT alone or in association with surgery to manage solid neoplasms in equids.

Methods: Medical records of equids with a diagnosis of malignant tumors treated with ECT alone or in combination with surgery were retrospectively evaluated.

Electrochemotherapy with Mitomycin C Potentiates Apoptosis Death by Inhibiting Autophagy in Squamous Carcinoma Cells.

We investigated the chemosensitizing effect of electroporation (EP), which, using electrical pulses, permeabilizes cancer cells to drugs. The study involved two human hypopharyngeal and tongue carcinoma cell lines. The surface and intracytoplasmic expression of P-gp were evaluated by flow cytometry, demonstrating that both lines were intrinsically resistant.

Evaluation of electrochemotherapy in the management of apocrine gland anal sac adenocarcinomas in dogs: A retrospective study.

Background: Electrochemotherapy (ECT) combines the administration of anticancer drugs with the delivery of electric pulses, thus increasing the drug uptake through the cell membranes, resulting in increased efficacy.

Aim: The aim of our study was to describe the tolerability and efficacy of ECT alone or in association with other treatment modalities for the management of apocrine gland anal sac adenocarcinoma (AGASAC).

Methods: Medical records of dogs with a diagnosis of AGASAC that were treated with ECT alone or in combination with surgery/chemotherapy were retrospectively evaluated.

Combination of bleomycin and cisplatin as adjuvant electrochemotherapy protocol for the treatment of incompletely excised feline injection-site sarcomas: A retrospective study.

Background: fFeline injection-site sarcomas (FISSs) are mesenchymal tumors that can occur in cats after injections of different medical agents and are easily prone to recurrence.

Aim: The aims of this study were to report treatment outcomes for cats with feline injection-site sarcomas (FISSs) treated with both bleomycin and cisplatin, per adjuvant electrochemotherapy (ECT) protocol.

Methods: The medical records of cats with a diagnosis of FISS that were treated with ECT using both bleomycin and cisplatin were retrospectively evaluated.

Che-1/AATF-induced transcriptionally active chromatin promotes cell proliferation in multiple myeloma.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a hematologic malignancy produced by a clonal expansion of plasma cells and characterized by abnormal production and secretion of monoclonal antibodies. This pathology exhibits an enormous heterogeneity resulting not only from genetic alterations but also from several epigenetic dysregulations. Here we provide evidence that Che-1/AATF (Che-1), an interactor of RNA polymerase II, promotes MM proliferation by affecting chromatin structure and sustaining global gene expression.

Preliminary assessment of electrochemotherapy feasibility in dogs with vesical transitional cell carcinoma.

Electroporation is a technique that increases the uptake of chemotherapeutic drugs by tumors. Electrochemotherapy (ECT) has been successfully used to treat solid tumors. Recently, novel applications have been explored in the treatment of visceral tumors.

Comparison of two different doses of bleomycin in electrochemotherapy protocols for feline cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma nonsegregated from ultraviolet light exposure.

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is one of the most common skin tumors in cats due to chronic exposure to ultraviolet light. Local treatments such as electrochemotherapy (ECT) promote disease control or even complete remission. We hypothesize that cats could benefit from treatments using bleomycin at reduced dosages.

Definition of a Novel Plasmid-Based Gene Transfection Protocol of Mammalian Skeletal Muscles by Means of In Vivo Electroporation.

We describe an original electroporation protocol for in vivo plasmid DNA transfection. The right hind limbs of C57 mice are exposed to a specifically designed train of permeabilizing electric pulses by transcutaneous application of tailored needle electrodes, immediately after the injection of pEGFP-C1 plasmid encoding GFP (Green Fluorescente Protein). The electroporated rodents show a greater GFP expression than the controls at three different time points (4, 10, and 15 days).

Electrochemotherapy for the treatment of an incompletely excised subcutaneous low-grade epithelioid hemangioendothelioma in a budgerigar parakeet ().

Background: Cutaneous tumors are rarely described in avian and are frequently of viral origin. Solid tumors of vascular origin are seldom reported and usually result in difficult management by surgery alone. We describe the outcome of a subcutaneous low-grade epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (EHE) treated with the combination of surgery and electrochemotherapy.

Drug repurposing for anticancer therapies. A lesson from proton pump inhibitors.

: Worldwide, the annual expenditure on anticancer drugs is grossly calculated to be in the order of US$100 billion, and is expected to escalate up to $150 billion by 2020. It is evident that the vast majority of the most recently devised anticancer drugs are unaffordable in economically developing nations, frequently resulting in subpar therapies. In this complex medical and economic scenario, the repurposing of older drugs for anticancer therapies becomes a necessity.

Anticancer activity of "Trigno M", extract of Prunus spinosa drupes, against in vitro 3D and in vivo colon cancer models.

In 2018 there were over 1.8 million new cases worldwide of colorectal cancer and relapses after clinical treatments. Many studies ascribe the risk of the appearance of this cancer to the Western life style : a sedentary life, obesity, and low -fiber, high -fat diets can promote the onset of disease.

Electrochemotherapy in Veterinary Oncology: State-of-the-Art and Perspectives.

Tumor microenvironment represents a key obstacle for the effectiveness of anticancer drugs. Electrochemotherapy involves the systemic or local delivery of lipophobic drugs such as bleomycin and cisplatin, with the application of permeabilizing electric pulses having appropriate amplitude and waveforms. This greatly enhances the uptake of these drugs by an estimated factor of 700-fold for bleomycin and 4 to 8 times for cisplatin.

Adjuvant electrochemotherapy with bleomycin and cisplatin combination for canine soft tissue sarcomas: A study of 30 cases.

Electrochemotherapy (ECT) couples the administration of anticancer drugs with the delivery of electric pulses that increase the drug uptake through the cell membranes, thus resulting in an improved efficacy. This study has evaluated the tolerability and efficacy of the combination of systemic bleomycin and local cisplatin as ECT agents for incompletely excised canine soft tissue sarcoma (STS). Thirty dogs with incompletely excised STSs were enrolled.

Causes, consequences, and therapy of tumors acidosis.

While cancer is commonly described as "a disease of the genes," it is also associated with massive metabolic reprogramming that is now accepted as a disease "Hallmark." This programming is complex and often involves metabolic cooperativity between cancer cells and their surrounding stroma. Indeed, there is emerging clinical evidence that interrupting a cancer's metabolic program can improve patients' outcomes.

Extracellular acidity and increased exosome release as key phenotypes of malignant tumors.

The tumor milieu is characteristically acidic as a consequence of the fermentative metabolism of glucose that results in massive accumulation of lactic acid within the cytoplasm. Tumor cells get rid of excessive protons through exchangers that are responsible for the extracellular acidification that selects cellular clones that are more apt at surviving in this challenging and culling environment. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are vesicles with diameters ranging from nm to μm that are released from the cells to deliver nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids to adjacent or distant cells.

Electrochemotherapy palliation of an oral squamous cell carcinoma in an African hedgehog ().

A five-year-old female African hedgehog () was referred for a one month growing oral mass. The hedgehog was quiet, alert and responsive, with a 1.00 × 1.

A Role of Tumor-Released Exosomes in Paracrine Dissemination and Metastasis.

Metastatic diffusion is thought to be a multi-step phenomenon involving the release of cells from the primary tumor and their diffusion through the body. Currently, several hypotheses have been put forward in order to explain the origin of cancer metastasis, including epithelial⁻mesenchymal transition, mutagenesis of stem cells, and a facilitating role of macrophages, involving, for example, transformation or fusion hybridization with neoplastic cells. In this paradigm, tumor-secreted extracellular vesicles (EVs), such as exosomes, play a pivotal role in cell communications, delivering a plethora of biomolecules including proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids.

Histological and Immunohistochemical Characterization of a Case of Endometriosis in a Guinea Pig .

Endometriosis is a chronic gynecological disease characterized by the ectopic proliferation of endometrial tissue outside of the uterine cavity. The pathogenesis of this disease is still obscure, and Sampson's theory of retrograde menstruation is still the most widely accepted explanation. Endometriosis in animals has been so far described not only in baboons and a rhesus macaque but also in dogs and horses that are nonmenstruating animals.

RIP1-HAT1-SIRT Complex Identification and Targeting in Treatment and Prevention of Cancer.

Alteration in cell death is a hallmark of cancer. A functional role regulating survival, apoptosis, and necroptosis has been attributed to RIP1/3 complexes. We have investigated the role of RIP1 and the effects of MC2494 in cell death induction, using different methods as flow cytometry, transcriptome analysis, immunoprecipitation, enzymatic assays, transfections, mutagenesis, and studies with different mice models.

Successful Treatment of a Keratoacanthoma with Electrochemotherapy: A Case Report.

Introduction: Few studies have evaluated the efficacy of intralesional bleomycin injection combined with electroporation for the treatment of cutaneous tumors. However, the phenomenon that electroporation can enhance the cytotoxicity of bleomycin in vivo by 300-700 fold has been intensely investigated.

Case Presentation: Keratoacanthoma in an 86-year-old patient was treated with intralesional bleomycin combined with electroporation.