Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Chemotherapy with pulses improves survival in dogs with oral melanoma
By Spugnini, Enrico P et al.·Published in Melanoma research·2006·SAFU Department, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Pulse-mediated chemotherapy enhances local control and survival in a spontaneous canine model of primary mucosal melanoma.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
Ten dogs with advanced oral melanoma, a type of cancer, received a new treatment combining local chemotherapy with pulse therapy. This approach was well tolerated and led to an 80% response rate, with half of the dogs experiencing long-term control of the disease. Remarkably, only one dog died from the cancer spreading, and some of the long-term survivors showed a change in skin color at the treatment site, which might indicate an immune response. This promising treatment could offer hope for dogs with difficult-to-treat oral melanomas.
People also search for: dog oral melanoma treatment · canine cancer pulse therapy · melanoma in dogs prognosis
Abstract
Mucosal melanomas account for 1% of all malignant melanomas in humans. Treatment options include surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and radiation therapy; however, local recurrence and distant dissemination are still frequent. We treated locally aggressive spontaneous canine oral melanomas that, because of their advanced stage, were not treatable with conventional strategies. A cohort of 10 dogs with oral melanoma was enrolled over a 4-year period. The dogs received two sessions of local bleomycin, followed by the application of trains of biphasic pulses. The treatment was well tolerated and resulted in an overall response rate of 80% with 50% long-term control. Of interest, only one of the dogs died of metastatic disease, and four of the long-term survivors showed a vitiligo-like discoloration at the site of treatment, potentially suggesting a recruitment of the immune system by the therapy. Further studies are needed to characterize this approach and to determine its suitability for head and neck mucosal melanoma.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16432452/