Akademska digitalna zbirka SLovenije - logo
E-viri
  • Use of electrochemotherapy ...
    Radica, Margherita Koleva; Fabbri, Nicolò; Sant’Andrea, Giorgia; Bonazza, Simona; Stefanelli, Antonio; Carcoforo, Paolo

    AME case reports, 10/2020, Letnik: 4
    Journal Article

    Breast cancer is the most common cause of chest wall recurrence, skin, and subcutaneous tissue metastases which mainly occur as multiple nodes in the skin and subcutaneous tissue. When it occurs, surgery (re-excision or totalization) is the treatment of choice. Unfortunately, it is not possible in rare cases for example after multiple plastic reconstructions and particular anatomical sites not eligible for resection. Moreover, in some cases where radiation therapy has already been used, and systemic therapy is ineffective or contraindicated, electrochemotherapy could represent a choice of palliation treatment. The principle of electrochemotherapy is based on a physical approach to permeabilize cells in the tissue exposed to electric pulses with increased cellular uptake of hydrophilic chemotherapeutics as bleomycin. We present a case of a 62-year-old woman suffering from chest wall recurrence of triple-negative breast cancer, previously treated with chemotherapy, surgery, and radiotherapy. The persistence of the tumor disease with abundant losses of blood serum material led the patient to a progressive decay of the general physical conditions. For this reason, we performed an electrochemotherapy session with an improvement in pain management and partial necrosis of the tumor tissue and devascularization that reduced bleeding and serum production leading to a better quality of life.