Dog brain tumor size on MRI linked to survival after surgery

Abstract

OBJECTIVE To assess the relationship between preoperative volume of primary intracranial gliomas in dogs as determined via MRI and survival time after surgical debulking and adjunctive immunotherapy. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. ANIMALS 47 client-owned dogs enrolled in clinical trials regarding glioma treatments. PROCEDURES Medical records of all dogs undergoing craniotomy at the University of Minnesota Veterinary Medicine Center with histologically confirmed glioma between 2008 and 2015 were retrospectively reviewed, and outcome data were collected. Preoperative T2-weighted or post-gadolinium administration T1-weighted MRI scans, performed at several referral institutions with scanners of magnet strengths ranging from 0.5 to 3.0 T, were used to measure tumor volumes as a percentage of total calvarial volume. Data were analyzed to assess the effect of each 2% fraction of tumor volume on median survival time (MST) after surgery and adjuvant treatment. RESULTS Tumor volumes ranged from 0.5% to 12.2% of total intracranial volume. Overall MST was 185 days (range, 2 to 802 days). No association was identified between preoperative tumor volume and MST. Only 3 (6%) dogs had low-grade tumors that had relatively small volumes, measuring 1.4%, 2.1%, and 4.3% of total calvarial volume. The MST for these 3 dogs (727 days) was longer than that for high-grade tumors (174 days); however, owing to the low number of dogs with low-grade tumors, no statistical comparison was performed. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Preoperative tumor volume determined via MRI was neither associated with nor predictive of outcome following surgery and adjunctive treatment for dogs with glioma. Tumor grade was predictive of outcome, but unlike tumor volume that was measured with MRI, invasive biopsy was necessary to definitively diagnose tumor grade.