Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Eye damage risks in dogs treated with radiation for nasal tumors
By Wolf, Friederike et al.·Published in Veterinary ophthalmology·2020·Vetsuisse Faculty·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Ocular and periocular radiation toxicity in dogs treated for sinonasal tumors: A critical review.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A review of dogs treated for sinonasal tumors found that radiation therapy can lead to eye problems, including vision loss. The study looked at 36 previous reports and found that around 72% noted side effects affecting the eyes and surrounding areas. It appears that doses of radiation over 39 Gy (given in 10 sessions) are likely to cause vision loss, while doses under 30 Gy may help preserve eye function. The researchers suggest that better guidelines are needed to minimize eye damage during treatment. If your dog is undergoing radiation therapy, it’s important to discuss potential eye risks with your veterinarian.
Abstract
Visual impairment from radiation-induced damage can be painful, disabling, and reduces the patient's quality of life. Ocular tissue damage can result from the proximity of ocular organs at risk to irradiated sinonasal target volumes. As toxicity depends on the radiation dose delivered to a certain volume, dose-volume constraints for organs at risk should ideally be known during treatment planning in order to reduce toxicity. Herein, we summarize published ocular toxicity data of dogs irradiated for sinonasal tumors from 36 publications (1976-2018). In particular, we tried to extract a dose guideline for a clinically acceptable rate of ocular toxicity. The side effects to ocular and periocular tissues were reported in 26/36 studies (72%) and graded according to scoring systems (10/26; 39%). With most scoring systems, however, toxicities of different ocular and periocular tissues are summed into one score. Further, the scores were mostly applied in retrospect and lack volume- and dose-data. This incomplete information reflects the crux of the matter for radiation dose tolerance in canine ocular tissues: The published information of the last three decades does not allow formulating dose-volume guidelines. As a start, we can only state that a mean dose of 39 Gy (given in 10 x 4.2 Gy fractions) will lead to loss of vision by one or both eyes, while mean doses of <30 Gy seem to preserve functionality. With a future goal to define tolerated doses and volumes of ocular and periocular tissues at risk, we propose the use of combined ocular toxicity scoring systems.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32281234/