Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Abdominal ultrasound findings in dogs with osteosarcoma and treatment
By Sacornrattana, O et al.·Published in Veterinary and comparative oncology·2013·Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Abdominal ultrasonographic findings at diagnosis of osteosarcoma in dogs and association with treatment outcome.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs diagnosed with osteosarcoma (a type of bone cancer) underwent abdominal ultrasound exams to check for any internal issues. The results showed that over half of the dogs had some abnormalities, mostly in the spleen, but only a few had signs of cancer spreading to other organs. Dogs with any ultrasound abnormalities were less likely to receive aggressive treatment and tended to have shorter survival times, especially if lesions were found in the liver or kidneys. This suggests that ultrasound findings can impact treatment decisions and outcomes for dogs with osteosarcoma.
People also search for: dog osteosarcoma treatment · abdominal ultrasound findings in dogs · dog cancer survival rates · signs of cancer in dogs · dog spleen abnormalities
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to describe abdominal ultrasonographic findings present at diagnosis of osteosarcoma (OSA) in dogs and to investigate for associations with treatment outcome. Medical records from 118 dogs diagnosed with OSA that had abdominal ultrasonography performed as part of their initial evaluation were reviewed. Fifty-seven percent had ultrasonographic abnormalities identified. The organ with the highest frequency of ultrasonographic changes was the spleen. While most sonographic changes were considered to be either benign or of unknown clinical consequences, metastases were identified in three dogs (2.5%), two of which (1.7%) did not have other evidence of metastasis. Dogs with any ultrasonographic abnormality were less likely to receive definitive therapy (P = 0.005) and exhibited shorter survival, although the latter observation was not statistically significant (P = 0.071). However, the identification of lesions in either the liver (P = 0.021) or the kidney (P = 0.003) was statistically associated with shorter survival.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22296655/