Effective treatment of B16 melanoma by direct delivery of bleomycin using electrochemotherapy

Electrochemotherapy (ECT), chemotherapy administered in combination with electric fields, has the potential to be an effective localized treatment for cutaneous malignancies. Bleomycin's cytotoxicity was enhanced by exposing tumour cells to electrical fields following intravenous injection of the chemotherapeutic agent. Two issues associated with this procedure are the existence of a narrow but optimal time-window for effective treatment and the fact that a systemic drug dose is administered for a localized therapy. In order to address these issues, a study was initiated to examine the effectiveness of administering bleomycin by intratumoural injection. A dose-response relationship for intratumoural injection was determined. In addition, the minimal effective field strength necessary for ECT was established. Results of this study indicated drastic reductions in tumour volume for ECT-treated groups. In addition, ECT-treated groups showed increased survival over control groups. The minimum effective dose for the ECT intratumour bleomycin group was 0.025 units. The minimum effective field strength was found to be 1250 V/cm. The results demonstrate that intratumoural injection of bleomycin in combination with electric pulses is effective, and this information will be used to initiate clinical trials.