Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Pamidronate with chemo and radiation for bone pain in dogs
By Fan, T M et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2009·Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Double-blind placebo-controlled trial of adjuvant pamidronate with palliative radiotherapy and intravenous doxorubicin for canine appendicular osteosarcoma bone pain.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 50 dogs with bone cancer (osteosarcoma) were treated with either a medication called pamidronate or a placebo along with standard pain relief methods. The goal was to see if pamidronate could help manage pain better. While both groups experienced similar pain relief for about 75 days, some dogs did achieve longer-lasting pain control with pamidronate, showing improvements in bone health markers. Overall, pamidronate was safe to use, but it didn't significantly enhance pain relief for all dogs.
People also search for: dog osteosarcoma pain management · pamidronate for dogs cancer · dog bone cancer treatment options
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Canine osteosarcoma (OSA) causes focal malignant osteolysis leading to severe pain. Despite the documented efficacy of radiotherapy or IV aminobisphosphonates for managing cancer bone pain, their potential combined therapeutic value has not been reported in OSA-bearing dogs. HYPOTHESIS: Pamidronate combined with standardized palliative therapy will improve pain control and bone biologic effects in OSA-bearing dogs. ANIMALS: Fifty dogs with appendicular OSA treated with standardized palliative therapy and either pamidronate or sterile saline. METHODS: Randomized, prospective, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study. Treatment responses for dogs receiving standardized palliative therapy with (n = 26) or without (n = 24) adjuvant pamidronate were serially evaluated for changes in subjective pain scores, urine N-telopeptide (NTx) excretion, primary tumor relative bone mineral density (rBMD), and computerized pressure platform gait analysis. RESULTS: Median duration of subjective pain relief for dogs treated with adjuvant pamidronate or placebo was 76 and 75 days, respectively (P= .39). Forty percent (20/50; pamidronate [11/26] and placebo [9/24]) of dogs experienced durable analgesia, defined by pain alleviation > or =112 days. For patients achieving durable pain control, dogs treated with pamidronate achieved greater reductions in NTx excretion and larger increases in rBMD compared with placebo controls. Changes in peak vertical force assessed by computerized pressure platform gait analysis correlated with pain alleviation in OSA-bearing dogs. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Combining pamidronate with standardized palliative therapy is safe, but does not clearly improve pain alleviation. However, in dogs achieving durable pain control, adjuvant pamidronate appears to decrease focal bone resorption in the local tumor microenvironment.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19175734/