Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Chemotherapy and half-body radiation for treating dog lymphoma
By Williams, Laurel E et al.·Published in Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine·2004·Veterinary Teaching Hospital, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University Department of Clinical Sciences, , Raleigh, NC (Williams, Hauck, Ruslander, Price)·View original on Crossref →
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Original publication title: Chemotherapy Followed by Half-Body Radiation Therapy for Canine Lymphoma
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 94 dogs with lymphoma received chemotherapy followed by half-body radiation therapy to treat their cancer. About 78% of these dogs went into complete remission, with the average time before relapse being around 311 days. After relapsing, many dogs were able to go back on treatment and 85% of those achieved a second remission. Overall, the dogs tolerated the treatment well, with only mild side effects like low blood cell counts and some stomach issues. This approach may help extend the time dogs stay in remission compared to just using chemotherapy alone.
People also search for: dog lymphoma treatment · chemotherapy for dogs · half-body radiation therapy for dogs
Abstract
Abstract A protocol of induction chemotherapy followed by half-body radiation therapy for treatment of lymphoma was used in 94 dogs. Seventy-three (78%) dogs achieved complete remission. Substage (P= .011) and phenotype (P= .015) were identified as predictors of complete remission rate. Of these, 52 dogs received half-body irradiation. Cranial and caudal halves received a total dose of 8.0 Gy, given in 2 fractions of 4.0 Gy on consecutive days with cobalt-60 photons and a 3-week interval between halves. Median 1st remission for these dogs was 311 days. Anemia was identified as the only predictor for length of 1st remission (P= .024). Toxicoses after half-body irradiation generally were mild and infrequent and included myelosuppression and gastrointestinal signs. Thirty-one dogs relapsed and 20 resumed treatment with induction followed by maintenance chemotherapy. Seventeen (85%) dogs achieved a 2nd complete remission. Median overall remission for all 52 dogs was 486 days. Results of this study suggest that half-body radiation therapy after induction chemotherapy is well tolerated and might increase remission duration compared with conventional protocols that use chemotherapy alone, but this increase might not be long enough to be clinically relevant or to justify application of the method described herein.
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Search related cases →Original publication on Crossref: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-1676.2004.tb02609.x