Electrochemo-gene therapy of cancer: Intratumoral delivery of interleukin-12 gene and bleomycin synergistically induced therapeutic immunity and suppressed subcutaneous and metastatic melanomas in mice

To treat established melanoma in mice, intratumoral transfer of bleomycin and/or an interleukin (IL)-12 expression vector was performed by means of electroporation. Although either bleomycin alone or the IL 12 gene alone significantly suppressed the subcutaneous tumors, the combination therapy drastically improved the therapeutic outcome. Three of eight mice (37.5%) that received both bleomycin and the IL 12 gene showed complete remission of the preestablished tumors and rejected subsequent rechallenge with the tumor cells. We also examined whether electrochemogene therapy for subcutaneous tumor mass induced suppression of pulmonary metastasis that had been established by intravenous inoculation of the melanoma cells. Although metastatic foci were significantly reduced in number in groups that were given IL 12 gene alone or bleomycin plus IL12 gene, it was only the combination therapy that significantly prolonged the mean survival period of the tumor-bearing animals. Natural killer (NK) and cytotoxic T lymphocyte cytolytic activities were markedly enhanced in the mice that received the chemo-gene therapy, while IL 12 gene therapy alone partially elevated the NK cytotoxicity. The present study suggests that the electroporation-mediated delivery of the IL12 gene and bleomycin synergistically elicits innate and adaptive anti-melanoma immune responses, resulting in marked suppression of the treated tumors as well as bystander metastatic lesions.