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Peer-reviewed veterinary case report

No major side effects in female dogs treated with thalidomide

By de Campos, C B et al.·Published in The Veterinary record·2016·Department of Veterinary Clinic and Surgery, Brazil·View original on PubMed

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Original publication title: Absence of significant adverse events following thalidomide administration in bitches diagnosed with mammary gland carcinomas.

Species:
dog

Plain-English summary

A group of 29 female dogs with advanced mammary gland tumors were treated with thalidomide to see if it caused any serious side effects. While some dogs experienced mild drowsiness, most did not have any significant adverse events. After three months on a high dose, the dose was reduced, and all dogs showed improvement in their symptoms. Overall, the treatment was well-tolerated, and the dogs remained stable throughout the study.

People also search for: dog mammary cancer treatment · thalidomide side effects in dogs · female dog cancer symptoms

Abstract

The aim of the study was to evaluate the incidence of adverse events (AEs) in female dogs diagnosed with advanced clinical stage mammary gland neoplasms following treatment with thalidomide. A prospective analysis of 29 female dogs treated with a high dose (HD) of 20 mg/kg/day of thalidomide for three months followed by a low dose (LD) of 10 mg/kg/day of thalidomide for three months was performed. All patients underwent physical examination, complete blood count, serum biochemistry profile, thoracic radiographs, and abdominal ultrasound analysis before the treatment and after the HD and LD. Clinical AEs were absent in 16/29 (55.17 per cent) patients following HD. An initial 3-5 day period of somnolence was described in 4/29 (13.79 per cent), prolonged somnolence in 5/29 (17.24 per cent), a short period of somnolence lasting only a few hours in 3/29 (10.34 per cent), and difficulty to rouse was described in 5/29 (17.24 per cent) cases. Two patients (6.89 per cent) presented with prolonged somnolence that interfered with activities of daily living, resulting in anticipation of the dose reduction to the proposed LD after 15 days of the HD treatment. Following dose reduction, AE improvement was observed in all patients. Albeit remaining within the reference ranges, erythrocytes, haematocrit, total leucocyte count, neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes and γ-glutamyltranspeptidase showed significant alteration associated to thalidomide treatment.

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Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27553604/