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Background: Advanced carcinoma of the head represents a substantial health problem in cats for local control and overall survival., Objectives: Evaluate the capability of electrochemotherapy (ECT) to improve bleomycin efficacy in cats with periocular carcinoma and advanced carcinoma of the head., Animals: Twenty-one cats with periocular carcinoma (17 squamous cell carcinoma [SCC] and 4 anaplastic carcinoma) and 26 cats with advanced SCC of the head., Methods: Nonrandomized prospective controlled study. Periocular carcinoma cohorts: 12 cats were treated with bleomycin (15 mg/m(2) i.v.) coupled with ECT under anesthesia; 9 cats were treated with bleomycin alone. Advanced head SCC cohorts: 14 cats were treated with bleomycin (15 mg/m(2) i.v.) coupled with ECT administered under sedation; 12 control cats were treated with bleomycin alone. ECT treatments (2-8) were performed every other week until complete remission (CR) or tumor progression occurred., Results: Toxicities were minimal and mostly treated symptomatically. Overall response rate in the ECT treated animals was 89% (21 Complete Response [CR] and 2 Partial Response [PR]) whereas controls had response rate of 33% (4 CR and 3 PR). Median time to progression in ECT group was 30.5 months, whereas in controls it was 3.9 months (P < .0001). Median time to progression for ECT cohorts was 24.2 months for periocular cohort and 20.6 in advanced head SCC cohort, respectively., Conclusions: Electrochemotherapy is well tolerated for advanced SCC of the head in cats; its use may be considered among loco-regional strategies for cancer therapy in sensitive body regions such as periocular region., (Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.)

A 13-year-old male neutered cat was presented for the sudden growth of two nodular lesions close to the upper eyelid of both eyes. Fine-needle aspiration cytology was suggestive of mesenchymal neoplasia. The cat had conservative surgical excision in order to preserve the eyelids' functionality; however, the histopathological report came with a diagnosis of incompletely excised bilateral pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma. Due to the local aggressiveness of this neoplasm, the cat was treated with two sessions of cisplatin-based electrochemotherapy, delivered 14 days apart. Systemic or local toxicities were not detected during the whole course of therapy. The cat is still in complete remission after 12 months. Electrochemotherapy is a safe and efficacious adjuvant therapy for aggressive sarcomas and warrants further investigations in order to standardise its protocols.

Canine anal melanoma is an aggressive neoplasm that rapidly leads to constipation in dogs, thus mimicking the behavior of their human counterpart. In this paper, the successful local palliation of this neoplasm is described using cisplatin selectively driven within the tumor cells by trains of biphasic pulses. The dog experienced tumor reduction with restoration of normal defecation for three months, then experienced massive dissemination to the sublumbar lymph nodes that led to intestinal obstruction and euthanasia. Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is a safe palliative therapy for such neoplasm and warrants further investigations in dogs as well humans.