Electrochemotherapy for primary skin cancer and skin metastasis related to other malignancies.

Electrochemotherapy is an effective local tumor ablation modality in the treatment of solid cancers. Its use combines the administration of nonpermeable or poorly permeable highly intrinsic cytotoxic drugs with the application of short and intense electric pulses to the tumors to facilitate the drug delivery into the cancer cells. After several preclinical and clinical studies using different and nonhomogenous protocols, the results of the multicenter European Standard Operating Procedure of Electrochemotherapy (ESOPE) project provided clinical procedures for a standardized, efficient, and safe electric pulse and drug administration protocol for the local treatment of any type of skin tumor nodules. Additional studies using the the multicenter European Standard Operating Procedure of Electrochemotherapy standard operating procedures confirmed the overall clinical results obtained. Currently, the tumors most frequently treated with ECT are melanoma and breast cancer metastasis, but also head and neck cancer, primary tumors of the skin, and Kaposi sarcoma. This review is intended as an update on the therapy and as an indication of possible future developments.