Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Radiation treatment results for young dogs with spinal nephroblastoma
By Kim, Jaeyoung et al.·Published in Veterinary and comparative oncology·2023·William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, United States·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Conventional fractionated radiotherapy outcomes for young dogs with nephroblastoma of the spinal cord: 5 cases.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of five young dogs, all around 2.8 years old, were treated for nephroblastoma (a type of kidney tumor) located in the spinal cord after surgery. Before their treatment, they showed symptoms like weakness in their back legs, loss of bowel control, and some were unable to walk. The dogs received targeted radiation therapy after their surgery, which helped them live a median of 3.4 years after treatment. While all dogs eventually passed away, the radiation therapy appeared to extend their lives, although they did experience some ongoing coordination issues.
People also search for: dog spinal tumor treatment · nephroblastoma in dogs · dog radiation therapy side effects
Abstract
Published radiotherapy results for spinal nephroblastomas in dogs are limited. In this retrospective longitudinal study (1/2007-1/2022), five dogs with a median age of 2.8 years received post-operative 3D conformal, conventional fractionated radiotherapy (CFRT) with 2-4 fields (parallel-opposed with or without two hinge-angle fields), for an incompletely resected nephroblastoma. Clinical findings prior to surgery included one or more of the following: pelvic limb paresis (5), faecal incontinence (2), flaccid tail (1), non-ambulatory (2) and deep pain loss (1). All masses were located between T11 and L3 and surgically removed via hemilaminectomy. Dogs received 45-50 Gray (Gy) in 18-20 fractions, and no dogs received chemotherapy post-radiation. At analysis, all dogs were deceased, with none lost to follow-up. The median overall survival (OS) from first treatment to death of any cause was 3.4 years (1234 days; 95% CI 68 days-upper limit not reached; range: 68-3607 days). The median planning target volume was 51.3 cc, with a median PTV dose of 51.4 Gy and median D98 = 48.3 Gy. Late complications or recurrence was difficult to fully determine in this small dataset; however, some degree of ataxia persisted throughout life in all dogs. This study provides preliminary evidence that post-operative radiotherapy may result in prolonged survival times dogs with spinal nephroblastomas.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37188527/