Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Risk of low white blood cells after mitoxantrone in small dogs
By Richardson, Danielle et al.·Published in Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association·2018·From the Ontario Veterinary College Health Sciences Centre, Canada·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Correlation Between Body Weight and Mitoxantrone-Associated Neutropenia in Dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 37 dogs with confirmed cancer were treated with a chemotherapy drug called mitoxantrone. After the treatment, some dogs developed low white blood cell counts, known as neutropenia, which can lead to serious health issues. Smaller dogs weighing 10 kg or less were found to be at a higher risk of severe neutropenia compared to larger dogs. In fact, nearly half of the dogs that experienced significant neutropenia required hospitalization. This suggests that veterinarians might consider giving a lower dose of mitoxantrone to smaller dogs to reduce the risk of these complications.
People also search for: dog cancer treatment mitoxantrone · symptoms of neutropenia in dogs · chemotherapy side effects small dogs
Abstract
Thirty-seven dogs with histologically or cytologically confirmed malignant tumors treated with single-agent mitoxantrone at 5 mg/mwere evaluated in a retrospective study assessing the correlation between body weight and neutropenia associated with a single dose of mitoxantrone in dogs. Overall, eight dogs (21%) experienced grade 3 neutropenia and five dogs (14%) experienced grade 4 neutropenia on day 7 following mitoxantrone chemotherapy. Dogs ≤10 kg body weight were significantly more likely to develop grade 3 or 4 neutropenia (5.8 relative risk; 95% confidence interval, 2.6-12.9; P < .0001) than dogs >10 kg. Dogs ≤15 kg body weight were significantly more likely to develop grade 3 or 4 neutropenia (8.1 relative risk; 95% confidence interval, 2.1-31.3; P < .0001) than dogs >15 kg. Of the 13 patients who developed grade 3 or 4 neutropenia, 6 (46%) were hospitalized for clinical signs related to neutropenia. Based on the severity of neutropenia and the resulting hospitalization seen in dogs ≤10 kg, a dose reduction could be considered for the initial dose of mitoxantrone, and clinicians should be aware of the increased risk of neutropenia in patients 10.1 to ≤15 kg.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29558218/