Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Pet cancer cases and treatments at a Spanish vet hospital 2015-2024
By Romero, Beatriz et al.·Published in Frontiers in veterinary science·2025·Department of Biomedical Sciences, Spain·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Pet cancer cases and patterns of treatment at a Spanish veterinary teaching hospital: a retrospective study from 2015 to 2024.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study at a veterinary teaching hospital in Spain found that cancer is a leading cause of death in pets, particularly in older dogs. Out of 123 pets diagnosed with tumors, most were dogs, with many having malignant tumors in areas like the mammary glands or skin. Treatments included surgery for nearly half of the pets and chemotherapy for about a third, often using oral medications. Unfortunately, euthanasia was necessary for about 27% of the animals due to the severity of their conditions.
People also search for: dog cancer treatment options · cat tumor symptoms · what to expect with pet chemotherapy · signs of cancer in older dogs · pet euthanasia decisions
Abstract
Cancer is one of the most common causes of death for companion animals. The study aimed to describe the characteristics of the clinical cases of pets attending at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital (University of Leon, Spain) and diagnosed with tumors. A retrospective study was carried out between 2015 and 2024. A total of 123 animals comprising 107 dogs and 16 cats were obtained from the clinical records. A mean annual incidence risk of 530 of 100,000 animals was calculated. Most animals were dogs (87.0%), females (62.6%), purebred (77.2%) and aged (78.9%). Tumors were mainly malignant (87.8%), they were of epithelial origin (40.7%), and mostly located in mammary glands (27.6%) or skin/mucosa (26.8%). Carcinoma (35.8%) and lymphoma (19.5%) were the major histological types. Almost half of the animals underwent surgical treatment (42.3%). Chemotherapy was administered to 37.4% of the animals, mostly by the oral route. QL01E (protein kinase inhibitors) was the main pharmacological group employed. Concomitant treatments and dietary supplements were also used. Euthanasia was applied to 26.8% of the animals.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40697645/