Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Oral melphalan helps some dogs with relapsed lymphoma
By Mastromauro, M L et al.·Published in Veterinary and comparative oncology·2018·College of Veterinary Medicine·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Oral melphalan for the treatment of relapsed canine lymphoma.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with relapsed lymphoma were treated with oral melphalan, a medication that is easy to give and affordable. Out of 19 dogs, about 32% showed some improvement or stable disease after treatment, with responses lasting from 14 to 34 days. Most dogs tolerated the medication well, although some experienced mild side effects, primarily related to their blood counts. While the overall benefit was limited, melphalan could be a viable option for dogs with few other treatment choices left.
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Abstract
Oral melphalan has been included in multi-agent rescue protocols for canine lymphoma but its activity as a single-agent for this purpose has not been established. Inexpensive cost, ease of administration and tolerability make oral melphalan an attractive candidate for single-agent rescue therapy of canine lymphoma. Retrospective evaluation of 19 cases of relapsed canine lymphoma treated with oral melphalan was performed. Melphalan was primarily administered (n = 16) via a high dose protocol (HDM) with a median dosage of 19.4 mg m. Fifteen dogs (78.9%) were treated concurrently with corticosteroids. Response evaluation was possible for all dogs with a calculated overall clinical benefit (partial response [PR] + stable disease [SD]) of 31.6% (PR 3/19; SD 3/19). Times to progression following melphalan (TTP-M) were 14, 24 and 34 days for responders and 20, 28 and 103 days for dogs experiencing SD. Twelve of 17 dogs evaluable for toxicity experienced an adverse event (AE) with only 3 dogs experiencing a grade III or higher AE. Haematologic toxicity was common (11/17) while gastrointestinal toxicity was rare (1/17). Although treatment resulted in limited clinical benefit and non-durable responses, oral melphalan was well-tolerated and may be a reasonable rescue option in cases where minimal effective agents remain.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28941072/