Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Survival after surgery or radiation for advanced anal sac cancer
By Meier, V et al.·Published in Veterinary and comparative oncology·2017·Vetsuisse Faculty University of Zurich·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Outcome in dogs with advanced (stage 3b) anal sac gland carcinoma treated with surgery or hypofractionated radiation therapy.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with advanced anal sac gland cancer (stage 3b) were treated either with surgery or radiation therapy to see which method worked better. Many of these dogs were experiencing serious symptoms like constipation and high calcium levels. The dogs that received radiation therapy had a longer time without their cancer worsening and lived longer compared to those that had surgery. Both treatments helped relieve symptoms quickly, but radiation therapy proved to be more effective for survival.
People also search for: dog anal sac cancer treatment · dog constipation cancer · radiation therapy for dogs cancer
Abstract
Stage 3b anal sac gland carcinoma (ASGC) can be life-threatening. A surgical approach is not always possible or may be declined. Dogs with stage 3b ASGC treated with surgery or conformal radiation therapy (RT) with 8 × 3.8 Gy (total dose 30.4 Gy, over 2.5 weeks) were retrospectively evaluated. Patient characteristics, median progression-free interval (PFI) and median survival time (MST) were compared. Twenty-eight dogs were included; 15 underwent surgery, 13 underwent RT. At the time of presentation, 21% showed life-threatening obstipation and 25% showed hypercalcaemia. PFI and MST for surgery cases were 159 days (95% CI: 135-184 days) and 182 days (95% CI: 146-218 days), both significantly lower than for RT cases with 347 days (95% CI: 240-454 days) and 447 days (95% CI: 222-672 days), (P = 0.01, P = 0.019). Surgery as well as RT led to a fast relief of symptoms. PFI and survival of surgical patients were significantly inferior to that of a comparable patient group treated with conformal hypofractionated RT.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27278807/