Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with lung cancer treated successfully using personalized chemo
By Kyu-Duk Yeon et al.·Published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science·2026·Department of Veterinary Internal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University, Seoul, Republic of Korea, CH·View original on DOAJ →
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Original publication title: Case Report: Personalized, functional drug sensitivity-guided chemotherapy achieves long-term disease-free survival in canine pulmonary adenocarcinoma
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 10-year-old spayed female Maltese was diagnosed with a lung tumor called pulmonary adenocarcinoma after surgery to remove it. To help prevent the cancer from coming back, the vet used a special test to find out which chemotherapy drugs would work best for her. The dog received two drugs, doxorubicin and toceranib, and she handled the treatment well without any major side effects. After nearly 18 months of follow-up, there were no signs of the cancer returning, showing that this personalized approach to chemotherapy was effective.
People also search for: Maltese lung tumor treatment · dog pulmonary adenocarcinoma chemotherapy · doxorubicin side effects in dogs
Abstract
IntroductionCanine pulmonary adenocarcinoma (PAC) is a relatively uncommon primary lung tumor in dogs, with prognosis influenced by clinical stage, histological grade, and surgical margins. Despite surgical resection being the treatment of choice, long-term outcomes remain highly variable, and the benefit of conventional empirically chosen adjuvant chemotherapy remains limited, especially in high-risk cases.MethodsA 10-year-old spayed female Maltese dog presented with a solitary pulmonary mass was diagnosed with moderately differentiated PAC after complete (R0) resection via right middle lung lobectomy. Given the tumor’s histological grade and suspected nodal involvement, ex vivo functional drug sensitivity testing using patient-derived tumor cells and three-dimensional organoid culture was performed to guide personalized chemotherapeutic selection.ResultsDoxorubicin and toceranib exhibited the highest cytotoxicity and were sequentially administered as adjuvant therapy. The patient tolerated the treatment well without notable adverse effects, and serial thoracic imaging over 548 days revealed no evidence of recurrence or metastasis.ConclusionThis case highlights the clinical utility of integrating functional drug sensitivity testing and organoid validation into personalized chemotherapy decision-making for canine PAC, demonstrating prolonged disease-free survival exceeding 500 days in a patient with intermediate-grade histology and suspected nodal involvement.
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Search related cases →Original publication on DOAJ: https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2025.1678271