Electrochemotherapy – possible benefits and limitations to its use in the head and neck region

Abstract

Conclusion: Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is an efficacious treatment. It should, however, be used with some caution in the treatment of head and neck cancer. Objectives: To assess local tumor control, safety, survival, and functional outcome after treatment of cancer in the head and neck region with ECT. Methods: Four patients with primary T2 cancer of the oral cavity or oropharynx and one patient with a metastasis of renal cancer in the masseter muscle were treated with ECT with intratumorally administered bleomycin. Control biopsies were carried out 2 months after treatment. Postoperative radiotherapy was performed based on tumor T-stage and the depth of tumor infiltration. Serious adverse events and treatment malfunctions were recorded. The follow-up time was 24 months for the surviving patients and 20 months overall. The PSS-HN scale was used to assess the functional outcome. Results: No local recurrence was recorded in any patient during the follow-up. However, only one patient was treated with ECT alone. There were four serious adverse events: one nearly lethal bleeding, two cases of osteoradionecrosis, and a fistula. One patient died from distant metastasis. The other patients were tumor-free both locally and overall at 24 months. The median functional outcome in all parameters was worse 1 year after treatment.

Keywords:

• Electroporation therapy
• bleomycin
• head and neck cancer
• local control
• survival
• serious adverse events

Declaration of interest: The study was sponsored by Genetronics Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Inovio Biomedical Corporation, San Diego, CA, USA. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.