Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Chemotherapy after mastectomy for cats with mammary cancer
By Cunha, Simone C S et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2015·Federal Fluminense University, Brazil·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Adjuvant chemotherapy with mitoxantrone for cats with mammary carcinomas treated with radical mastectomy.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats with mammary tumors underwent surgery to remove the affected tissue, and some received chemotherapy with mitoxantrone afterward to help prevent the cancer from coming back. The cats were monitored for how long they stayed cancer-free and how long they lived after treatment. On average, the cats remained disease-free for about a year and lived around 16 months after surgery. While some cats experienced side effects like vomiting and loss of appetite, the chemotherapy showed promise as a treatment option for these tumors.
People also search for: cat mammary tumor treatment · mitoxantrone for cats · cat cancer survival rate · side effects of chemotherapy in cats
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate the disease-free interval, survival time and adverse events of a combined treatment approach in cats with mammary malignant tumors using radical mastectomy and adjuvant mitoxantrone. METHODS: All cats underwent surgery to remove the mammary chain containing the tumors. A 3 cm margin was obtained around removed tumors. For staging purposes, regional inguinal lymphadenectomy was performed in all cases. After histopathology, cats were staged according to the World Health Organization's (WHO) staging system. Chemotherapy with mitoxantrone was started 15-30 days after surgery (6 mg/m(2) IV every 21 days for four cycles) with the objective of delaying metastasis. RESULTS: Three cats were intact, one cat was early spayed, four cats were late spayed and four cats were spayed at an unknown age. Based on the WHO's staging system, six cats were classified as stage I and six cats as stage III. The median disease-free interval and survival time were 360 and 480 days, respectively. Four (33%) cats received four doses of mitoxantrone, four (33%) cats received three doses and four (33%) cats received only one dose. The most frequent adverse effects of chemotherapy were azotemia, anorexia, leukopenia and vomiting. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Adjuvant mitoxantrone chemotherapy may be an option for feline mammary tumors. Further, sufficiently powered, randomized prospective trials are necessary to determine if mitoxantrone is superior, inferior or equivalent to doxorubicin in the adjuvant setting.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25673018/