Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Outcomes and survival factors for dogs with subcutaneous mast cell
By Treggiari, E et al.·Published in Veterinary and comparative oncology·2023·Oncology Service, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Retrospective analysis of outcome and prognostic factors of subcutaneous mast cell tumours in dogs undergoing surgery with or without adjuvant treatment.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with subcutaneous mast cell tumors (a type of skin cancer) underwent surgery to remove the tumors, with some also receiving additional chemotherapy. The study found that dogs who only had surgery without chemotherapy tended to live longer, especially if they didn't show any serious symptoms at the time of diagnosis. Factors like older age, the presence of clinical signs, and certain tumor characteristics were linked to a shorter survival time. Overall, dogs without negative factors had a better chance of a longer life after surgery alone.
People also search for: dog mast cell tumor treatment · subcutaneous tumor surgery dog · dog cancer survival rate
Abstract
Subcutaneous mast cell tumours (SC MCTs) can display a different biological behaviour in dogs when compared to their cutaneous counterpart. There is a paucity of information with regards to the outcome of dogs with SC MCTs treated with surgery and/or receiving adjuvant chemotherapy. The aim of this study was to retrospectively review the outcome of dogs with surgically excised SC MCTs undergoing adjuvant treatment or not. A secondary aim was to assess prognostic factors in the same group. Fifty-two cases were included. Recurrence rate was 15% and 63% of evaluated lymph nodes were consistent with early or overt metastasis. Median survival time (range 83-1357 days) and median time to progression (range 14-1357 days) were not reached. Factors predictive of shorter overall survival time included increasing age (HR 1.29, 95% CI 1.06-1.55, p = .0092), presence of clinical signs at presentation (HR 10.44, 95% CI 2.69-40.52, p = .0007), mitotic count >4 (HR 8.69, 95% CI 2.55-29.55, p = 0.0005), presence of multinucleation (HR 4.21, 95% CI 1.35-13.18, p = .0135), use of neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy (HR 7.16, 95% CI 1.26-40.73, p = .0266). The same factors, together with increasing tumour dimensions, were predictive for shorter progression-free survival (PFS), including increasing age (p = .0012), presence of clinical signs at presentation (p = .0045), increasing tumour dimensions (p = .0004), MC > 4 (p = .0004), presence of multinucleation (p = .0282), use of neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy (p = .0485). No variables remained significant for overall survival using multivariate analysis. There was a longer survival in cases where chemotherapy was not required (HR 0.14, 95% CI 0.03-0.68, p = .0148), and this variable remained significant for PFS on multivariate analysis (HR 0.13, 95% CI 0.02-0.76, p = .02). In conclusion, our study suggests that dogs with SC MCTs, in the absence of negative prognostic factors, may have a prolonged survival when treated with surgery alone. Further studies are needed to clarify the role of adjuvant treatment for biologically aggressive SC MCTs in dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37121954/