Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Survival factors in dogs with liver cancer hepatocellular carcinoma
By Moyer, James et al.·Published in Open veterinary journal·2021·Department of Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Factors associated with survival in dogs with a histopathological diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma: 94 cases (2007-2018).
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 10-year-old Golden Retriever was diagnosed with liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma) after a biopsy. The dog underwent surgery to remove the tumor, and the team found that certain factors, like the tumor's location and the dog's overall health, could affect recovery. On average, dogs with this condition lived about 707 days after diagnosis, but some factors, like having a high anesthetic risk score or elevated blood levels, were linked to a shorter survival time. The surgery was successful for many, but pre-surgery tests weren't always accurate in confirming cancer.
People also search for: dog liver cancer prognosis · Golden Retriever liver surgery recovery · hepatocellular carcinoma treatment in dogs
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common form of primary liver cancer in dogs. Despite this, relatively few reports of this disease exist pertaining to prognostic factors and outcome. AIM: To evaluate factors associated with survival in dogs with all subtypes of HCC diagnosed on histopathology. METHODS: A retrospective single institutional study was carried out on 94 client-owned dogs with a histopathologic diagnosis of HCC between 2007 and 2018 obtained by biopsy (21/94) or attempted definitive resection (73/94). Signalment, preoperative features, surgical findings, and postoperative outcomes were recorded. Associations between survival to discharge data were collected and univariable logistical regression was carried out. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was carried out to identify negative risk factors for long-term prognosis. RESULTS: The median survival time (MST) for all patients was 707 days (95% CI = 551-842). MST was not significantly different (> 0.05) between patients who had suspected versus incidentally diagnosed HCC (695775 days), between complete versus incomplete surgical margins (668834 days), or between patients with massive subtype versus nodular/diffuse subtype (707747 days). Logistical regression identified an association with the excision of the right medial lobe and risk of perioperative death (OR = 9.2, CI 1.5-55.9,= 0.016). An American Society of Anesthesiologists score ≥4, disease present within the quadrate lobe, and elevated blood urea nitrogen, potassium or gamma-glutamyltransferase were identified as negative prognosticators during multivariable Cox regression. Preoperative imaging (ultrasound or CT) agreed with the surgical location in 91% of the cases. Preoperative cytology was consistent with a diagnosis of HCC in 15/32 (46.9%) cases. CONCLUSION: Type of diagnosis (incidental vs presumed), completeness of excision, and subtype were not associated with MST in this study. Preoperative identification of tumors within the central division may be related to a less favorable outcome. Results of preoperative cytology were not highly sensitive for identifying a malignancy.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33898296/