Slovenian Veterinary Research (Dec 2017)

ELECTROCHEMOTHERAPY COMBINED WITH STANDARD AND CO2 LASER SURGERIES IN CANINE ORAL MELANOMA

  • Julita Kulbacka,
  • Joanna Paczuska,
  • Nina Rembiałkowska,
  • Jolanta Saczko,
  • Zdzisław Kiełbowicz,
  • Wojciech Kinda,
  • Bartłomiej Liszka,
  • Małgorzata Kotulska,
  • Bor Kos,
  • Damijan Miklavčič,
  • Nataša Tozon,
  • Maja Čemažar

DOI
https://doi.org/10.26873/SVR-322-2017
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 54, no. 4

Abstract

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Oral melanomas commonly occur in elderly dogs resulting in darkly pigmented areas of the mouth, tongue and gums. The main object of this study was a severe melanoma diagnosed in the jaw of a 15-year-old dog and its palliative treatment with electrochemotherapy. The tumour spread throughout the jaw including bones. Electrochemotherapy (ECT) with bleomycin and calcium solution (CaCl2) was combined with standard and CO2 laser surgeries. The treatment resulted in good local control of the tumour mass after one ECT session with bleomycin and a second ECT session with calcium ions solution. ECT significantly reduced bleeding and enhanced success of the surgery. The combination of ECT with surgical debulking resulted in rapid recovery and regaining of physiological activities, including normal feeding by the dog. This case demonstrates that the protocol combining ECT and surgery is promising in palliative melanoma treatment. Key words: oral melanoma; CO2 laser; electrochemotherapy; bleomycin; calcium ions ELEKTROKEMOTERAPIJA V KOMBINACIJI S STANDARDNO IN LASERSKO CO2 KIRURGIJO PASJIH USTNIH MELANOMOV Oralni melanom se pogosteje pojavlja pri starejših psih, kot temno pigmentirano področje ustne sluznice, jezika in dlesni. V prispevku opisujemo primer paliativnega zdravljenja obsežnega melanoma na področju spodnje čeljusti 15-letnega psa z elektrokemoterapijo. Tumorska masa se je vraščala tudi v spodaj ležečo kost. Delno kirurško odstranitev tumorske mase s klasično in CO2 lasersko kirurško metodo smo dopolnili z elektrokemoterapijo z bleomicinom in z raztopino kalcijevega klorida (CaCl2). S kombinacijo terapij smo dosegli dobro lokalno kontrolo tumorja. Elektrokemoterapija neposredno po kirurškem posegu je tudi močno zmanjšala krvavitev. Pes je po posegu okreval hitro ob ohranitvi vseh fizioloških funkcij, vključno z normalnim hranjenjem. Delna kirurška resekcija v kombinaciji z elektrokemoterapijo bi bila lahko alternativna možnost paliativnega zdravljenja oralnega melanoma. Ključne besede: ustni melanom; laser CO2; elektrokemoterapija; bleomicin; kalcijevi ioni