Electrochemotherapy is a combination of high
electric field and anticancer drugs. The treatment basis is
electroporation or electropermeabilization of the cell
membrane. Electroporation is a threshold phenomenon
and, for efficient treatment, an adequate local distribution
of electric field within the treated tissue is important. When
this local electric field is not enough, there is a regrown
tumor cell; however, if it is stronger than necessary, permanent
damage to the tissue occurs. In the treatment of
dogs, electrochemotherapy is not yet an established treatment
for mast cell tumor in veterinary medicine, although
there are studies showing evidence of its effectiveness. In
this study, we examined electrochemotherapy of dog mast
cell tumor with numerical simulation of local electric field
distribution. The experimental result was used to validate
the numerical models. The effect of tumor position and
tissue thickness (tumor in different parts of dog body) was
investigated using plate electrodes. Our results demonstrated
that the electrochemotherapy is efficient and flexible,
and even when the tumor extends into the subcutis,
the treatment with plate electrode eliminated the tumor
cells. This result suggests that electrochemotherapy is
a suitable method to treat mast cell tumors in dog.