Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Radiation therapy outcomes for cats with vaccine sarcoma
By Eckstein, C et al.·Published in Veterinary and comparative oncology·2009·Vetsuisse Faculty University of Zurich·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: A retrospective analysis of radiation therapy for the treatment of feline vaccine-associated sarcoma.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 73 cats with vaccine-associated sarcoma, a type of cancer that can occur at vaccination sites, received different treatments after surgery. Those who had clean margins after surgery and received curative radiation therapy lived a median of 43 months, while those with visible tumors who received coarse fractionated radiation therapy had a median survival of 24 months. Factors that improved outcomes included not having a visible mass and receiving chemotherapy alongside radiation. Overall, both types of radiation therapy were found to be effective in managing this condition.
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Abstract
We retrospectively evaluated predictive prognostic factors in 73 cats with vaccine-associated sarcoma given postsurgical curative (n = 46, most with clean margins) or coarse fractionated radiotherapy (n = 27, most with either macroscopic disease or dirty margins). The former animals displayed a median survival of 43 months and a median progression free interval (PFI) of 37 months, the latter reached a median survival of 24 months and a median PFI of 10 months. In cats undergoing coarse fractionated therapy, factors predictive of a better outcome included lack of visible mass (n = 10) as opposed to macroscopic disease (n = 17, survival: 30 versus 7 months, P = 0.025; PFI: 20 versus 4 months, P = 0.01), adjuvant chemotherapy for gross disease (n = 5/17, survival: 29 versus 5 months, P = 0.04) and a smaller number of surgeries preceding radiation therapy (coeff = 0.41, P = 0.03). The Ki67 index was not predictive for survival. We concluded that postsurgical curative and coarse fractionated radiotherapy are effective legitimate options for managing vaccine-associated sarcomas.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19222831/