Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Radiation treatment outcomes for dogs with adrenal tumors
By Lai, Yen-Hao Erik et al.·Published in Veterinary and comparative oncology·2026·Department of Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: A Multi-Institutional Retrospective Study of 21 Dogs Having Undergone Hypofractionated Radiotherapy for Adrenal Tumours (2017-2024).
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 21 dogs with adrenal tumors received a type of radiation therapy called hypofractionated image-guided intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) to see if it could help them. Most of these dogs had a specific type of tumor called pheochromocytoma. After treatment, about 38% of the dogs showed some improvement, while 63% had stable disease. Although some dogs experienced mild side effects like gastrointestinal issues, the overall survival time was around 377 days, with a good number of dogs living over a year after treatment. This suggests that radiation therapy can help dogs with adrenal tumors live longer, even if they have other health issues.
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Abstract
Radiation therapy (RT) has emerged as a promising non-surgical approach for treating canine adrenal tumours. This multi-institutional, retrospective study describes clinical outcomes for 21 dogs having been prescribed a course of hypofractionated image-guided intensity-modulated RT (IMRT) entailing delivery of 25-35 Gy total in 5 fractions given over 5-15 days for an adrenal tumour. Diagnoses were based on imaging (abdominal ultrasound or computed tomography) and biochemical testing. All dogs had unilateral or bilateral irregular adrenal masses with evidence of vessel compression or invasion. Adrenal masses were incidentally identified in 11 dogs. The clinical diagnoses included pheochromocytoma (n = 13, 61.9%), adrenocortical adenocarcinoma (n = 2, 9.5%) and unspecified (n = 6, 28.6%). Among the 16 dogs with available follow-up imaging, the rates of partial response and stable disease were 37.5% (6/16) and 62.5% (10/16), respectively. Mild gastrointestinal side effects related to RT were reported in four dogs (19%). Early death that could have been attributable to tumour or complications of treatment occurred in two dogs (9.5%) at 21 and 52 days post-RT; one presenting with acute vomiting, and the other presenting with vomiting, tremors, and shock before death. Of the 15 deceased dogs, 4 (26.7%) died due to tumour-related causes and 11 died due to unknown (n = 2) or unrelated (n = 9) causes. The median overall survival time was 377 days, with a median follow-up time of 458 days for censored patients (n = 6). The one- and two-year survival rates were 59.4% and 34.7%, respectively. These data build upon prior published reports, demonstrating that RT can be associated with prolonged survival in dogs with adrenal tumours. Hypofractionated IMRT appears to offer a potential survival benefit even in dogs with major vessel invasion or comorbidities. Future research should focus on identifying risk factors for early death and determining which patient populations are most likely to benefit from RT.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41491665/