Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Chemotherapy and half-body radiation for treating lymphoma in dogs
By Williams, Laurel E et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2004·Department of Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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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 (a type of cancer) underwent a treatment plan that included chemotherapy followed by half-body radiation therapy. About 78% of these dogs went into complete remission, with the average remission lasting around 486 days. While most dogs tolerated the treatment well, some experienced mild side effects like low blood cell counts and stomach issues. For those that relapsed, many were able to go back on treatment and achieve remission again. This approach may help extend the time dogs remain cancer-free compared to just using chemotherapy alone.
People also search for: dog lymphoma treatment · chemotherapy for dogs · half-body radiation therapy for dogs
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 PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15515588/