Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Capecitabine treatment for advanced cancer in 25 dogs
By Agnoli, Chiara et al.·Published in Veterinary and comparative oncology·2024·Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Italy·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 We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above.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: Spotlight on capecitabine for the treatment of unresectable or metastatic carcinoma of various origin: A retrospective study of 25 dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 25 dogs with advanced cancers, including liver and lung tumors, were treated with an oral medication called capecitabine to see if it could help when other treatments had failed or were not an option. Most dogs experienced mild side effects, mainly gastrointestinal issues, but these often resolved on their own. Out of the dogs with visible tumors, about 14% showed improvement, while most remained stable, leading to an overall positive response rate of 86%. The dogs lived a median of 273 days after starting treatment, suggesting that capecitabine could be a promising option for treating certain cancers in dogs.
People also search for: dog cancer treatment options · capecitabine for dogs · side effects of capecitabine in dogs
Abstract
Capecitabine, the oral prodrug of 5-fluorouracil, is indicated in people to treat various malignant epithelial cancers. In dogs, capecitabine has not been extensively evaluated. The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate toxicity and preliminary efficacy of single agent capecitabine in dogs with advanced malignant epithelial cancers of any site, for which no effective therapy existed, conventional treatment failed or was declined. Capecitabine was administered orally at 750 mg/mfrom day 1 to 14, followed by 1-week rest period, given as 3-week cycles. Safety evaluation was performed after 2 cycles, and every 2-3 cycles thereafter. Tumour response was determined every 2-3 cycles. Twenty-five dogs with hepatocellular carcinoma (n = 6), lung papillary carcinoma (n = 4), anal sac adenocarcinoma (n = 3), colic adenocarcinoma (n = 2), and other individually represented epithelial cancers (n = 10) were included. Dogs received a median of 4 cycles (range, 2-43) for a median of 84 days (range, 42-913). Toxicity occurred in 17 (68.0%) dogs; the most frequent adverse events were gastrointestinal, with the majority being self-resolving and of mild grade. Of the 22 dogs with macroscopic disease, 3 (13.6%) achieved partial remission, 16 (72.7%) were stable and 3 (13.6%) progressed; overall clinical benefit rate was 86.4%. Median progression-free interval was 93 days (95% CI 42-154; range, 1-521) and median tumour-specific survival was 273 days (95% CI 116-482; range 45-913). These findings suggest that capecitabine is an attractive option for the treatment of several types of carcinomas in dogs. Prospective studies are warranted to optimize the scheduling of capecitabine and confirm its efficacy.
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/38037870/