{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,9]],"date-time":"2026-09-09T13:07:09Z","timestamp":1788959229828,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"Walter de Gruyter GmbH","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788220800000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Electrochemotherapy (ECT) can be performed on tumors in patients that precedes tumor irradiation or on recurrent tumors after tumor irradiation. In this study we evaluated the feasibility, safety and effectiveness of the combined ECT and tumor irradiation (radiotherapy, RT) on different tumors in the head and neck region.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Patients and methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>For the present cohort analysis, patients were selected from the Insp-ECT database, based on the following criteria: presence of head and neck lesions of any histological origin, treatment with both ECT and RT in any sequence, and a maximum interval of 12 months between the two treatments. The patients were treated with ECT followed by RT (ECT \u2192 RT) or RT followed by ECT (RT \u2192 ECT), in both cases because the first treatment resulted in incomplete response or subsequent relapse. In the case of ECT \u2192 RT the meantime interval was 5.7 months and in the case of RT \u2192 ECT 7.6 months. The minimal time interval between the treatments was 1 month.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Treatment with ECT with bleomycin was feasible in all patients, treated either before or after RT. Included were 37 patients with the head and neck lesions. The combined treatment was performed predominantly on older population of patients with the age range from 50 to 96 years, median over 80 years. Importantly, in the group ECT \u2192 RT the major reason for RT was partial response (67%) after ECT. While, in the RT \u2192 ECT group the major reason for subsequent ECT was 58% of stable or progressive disease (failure to treatment). In both groups local symptoms decreased, like ulceration, odour and suppuration of tumors. In the ECT \u2192 RT group, the short-term response after 2 months was high, with 89% objective responses. In contrast, the RT \u2192 ECT group had a significantly lower rate, with 58% objective responses. At 24-month progression free survival (PFS) was 68% in the ECT \u2192 RT group and 20% in the RT \u2192 ECT group (p = 0.0101). The overall progression free survival Kaplan-Meier curves also differed significantly (log-rank p = 0.0232).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The combined treatment of ECT and RT is feasible, safe, and effective in elderly patients. The findings suggest that ECT may have particular value as a neoadjuvant treatment before RT, especially for bulky, ulcerated, or symptomatic lesions in this population.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.2478\/raon-2026-0051","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,9]],"date-time":"2026-09-09T11:31:15Z","timestamp":1788953475000},"page":"427-435","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Electrochemotherapy for cutaneous tumors combined with tumor irradiation before or after treatment: feasibility, safety, and effectiveness"],"prefix":"10.2478","volume":"60","author":[{"given":"Giulia","family":"Bertino","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, University of Pavia, IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo Foundation , Pavia , Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marta","family":"Minuti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, University of Pavia, IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo Foundation , Pavia , Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Julie","family":"Gehl","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Oncology and Palliative Care, Zealand University Hospital , Roskilde , Denmark"},{"name":"Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen , Copenhagen , Denmark"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Erika","family":"Kis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology and Allergology, Albert Szent-Gy\u00f6rgyi Medical School, Albert Szent-Gy\u00f6rgyi Clinical Centre, University of Szeged , Szeged , Hungary"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hadrian","family":"Nassabi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology and Plastic Surgery, SRH- Waldklinikum , Gera , Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michele Pio","family":"Grieco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"UOC Chirurgia Plastica e Skin Cancer Unit, IRCCS CROB Centro Riferimento Oncologico Basilicata , Rionero in Vulture (PZ) , Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Giuseppe","family":"Riva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Otorhinolaryngology, Department of Surgical Sciences, AOU Citt\u00e0 della Salute e della Scienza of Turin , Torino , Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Matteo","family":"Mascherini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgery, IRCCS AOM Liguria , Genoa , Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Francesca De","family":"Terlizzi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IGEA Biophysics Lab. Carpi , Modena , Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maja","family":"Cemazar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Experimental Oncology, Institute of Oncology Ljubljana , Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gregor","family":"Sersa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Experimental Oncology, Institute of Oncology Ljubljana , Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"374","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026090905570710258_j_raon-2026-0051_ref_001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Gehl J, Pereira PL, Cantwell CP, Deschamps F, Kocijancic A, Schmidt N, et al. Tumor ablation: emerging uses, challenges, and strategic implementation. A green paper by the Network of Expertise in Cancer (JANE-2), high tech medical resources, network on physical methods of tumor ablation. 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