Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Does spaying affect breast cancer risk in female cats
By Overley, Beth et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2005·Department of Clinical Studies, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Association between ovarihysterectomy and feline mammary carcinoma.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A study found that female cats who were spayed (had ovarihysterectomy) before 1 year of age had a much lower risk of developing mammary cancer compared to those who were not spayed. Specifically, cats spayed before 6 months had a 91% reduction in risk, while those spayed before 1 year had an 86% reduction. Intact (not spayed) cats were more likely to develop mammary carcinoma. This suggests that getting your female cat spayed early can significantly help protect her from this type of cancer.
People also search for: cat mammary cancer prevention · spaying cats benefits · when to spay a female cat
Abstract
The etiopathogenesis of feline mammary carcinoma is not well understood. Although putative, risk factors include breed, reproductive status, and regular exposure to progestins. An association between age at ovarihysterectomy (OHE) and mammary carcinoma development has not been established. Therefore, a case-control study was performed to determine the effects of OHE age, breed, progestin exposure, and parity on feline mammary carcinoma development. Cases were female cats diagnosed with mammary carcinoma by histological examination of mammary tissue. Controls were female cats not diagnosed with mammary tumors selected from the same biopsy service population. Controls were frequency matched to cases by age and year of diagnosis. Questionnaires were sent to veterinarians for 308 cases and 400 controls. The overall questionnaire response rate was 58%. Intact cats were significantly overrepresented (odds ratio [OR] 2.7, confidence interval [CI] = 1.4-5.3, P < .001) in the mammary carcinoma population. Cats spayed prior to 6 months of age had a 91% reduction in the risk of mammary carcinoma development compared with intact cats (OR 0.9, CI = 0.03-0.24). Those spayed prior to 1 year had an 86% reduction in risk (OR 0.14, CI = 0.06-0.34). Parity did not affect feline mammary carcinoma development, and too few cats had progestin exposure to determine association with mammary carcinoma. Results indicate that cats spayed before 1 year of age are at significantly decreased risk of feline mammary carcinoma development.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16095174/