Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How common are severe side effects in dogs during cancer chemotherapy
By Chavalle, Thomas et al.·Published in Veterinary and comparative oncology·2022·Service de cancé, France·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Are severe adverse events commonly observed in dogs during cancer chemotherapy? A retrospective study on 155 dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 155 dogs undergoing chemotherapy for cancer was studied to see how often they experienced severe side effects. About 80% of the dogs had some adverse events, and 32% faced severe issues, such as gastrointestinal problems or low blood cell counts. These severe side effects sometimes required hospitalization or led to stopping treatment, and in a few cases, resulted in death. Smaller dogs and those treated with multiple chemotherapy drugs were found to be at higher risk for these severe reactions. It's important for pet owners to monitor their dogs closely during chemotherapy, especially if they have certain types of cancer or are on more aggressive treatment plans.
People also search for: dog chemotherapy side effects · small dog cancer treatment · severe reactions to dog chemotherapy
Abstract
Overall prevalence of severe adverse events (sAE) has been poorly studied in veterinary medicine and peer-reviewed studies mostly focused on a single protocol, making it difficult to have a general overview. The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the frequency and risk factors of sAE secondary to various protocols of chemotherapy in dogs. Medical records of 155 dogs receiving chemotherapy between January 2013 and December 2018 were reviewed. Adverse events (AE) were graded according to Veterinary Comparative Oncology Group-common terminology criteria for AE (VCOG-CTCAE) grading system. Statistical analyses were performed to determine whether demographic, cancer type and chemotherapy protocol were associated with development of sAE and their consequences. AE were reported at least once in 124 (80%) dogs and sAE were observed in 50 (32.3%) dogs. Among them, 23 (14.8%) had gastro-intestinal and 31 (20.0%) had myelotoxic events. sAE led to hospitalisation in 37 (23.9%) dogs, to chemotherapy arrest in 12 (7.7%) dogs and to euthanasia or death in 9 (5.8%) dogs. Haematopoietic tumours were statistically associated with a higher frequency of sAE (p = .004), gastrointestinal sAE (p = .009) and hospitalisation (p = .004). A body weight over 10 kg was associated with less haematological sAE (p < .001). The use of a multi-agent protocol was highlighted as a risk factor for sAE (p = .038) and haematological sAE (p < .001). sAE following chemotherapy and leading to hospitalisation, chemo arrest or death were relatively common. A special attention during chemotherapy follow-up should be given to small dogs and those receiving multi-agent protocol or treated for haematopoietic tumours.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34775666/