Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Radiation alone treats oral papillary cancer in 10 dogs
By van der Steen, Francine & Zandvliet, Maurice·Published in Veterinary and comparative oncology·2021·Utrecht University Animal Cancer Center (UUACC), Netherlands·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Treatment of canine oral papillary squamous cell carcinoma using definitive-intent radiation as a monotherapy-a case series.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 10 dogs with oral tumors called papillary squamous cell carcinoma were treated with radiation therapy instead of surgery. These dogs, aged between 4 months and 9 years, had tumors located in the front part of their mouths, and the radiation treatment was well tolerated. After treatment, nine of the dogs showed complete recovery, while one had a partial response but later experienced disease progression. The dogs that responded well remained cancer-free for a long time, and no serious side effects from the radiation were noted. This suggests that radiation therapy can be an effective option for treating this type of oral cancer in dogs.
People also search for: dog oral cancer treatment · radiation therapy for dog tumors · canine squamous cell carcinoma prognosis
Abstract
Canine oral papillary squamous cell carcinoma (COPSCC) is a rare neoplasm and although locally invasive it carries a favourable prognosis following wide surgical excision. Radiotherapy has been reported to be effective as an adjunct treatment to surgery. However, limited information is available on the role of radiotherapy as single treatment. This single-institution retrospective study describes a series of 10 dogs diagnosed with macroscopic COPSCC that were treated with definitive-intent radiotherapy (DRT) as a monotherapy. These dogs had a median age of 4 years (range: 0.4-9.6 years). The tumour was located in the rostral oral cavity in all cases with a median tumour size of 2.5 cm (range: 0.8-6.8 cm). No local or distant metastases were identified. All dogs were treated with electron beam DRT (>32Gy, 10-16 daily fractions of 3.2Gy). The median follow-up time was 961 days (range: 333-3.498 days) with nine dogs achieving a complete response and one dog a partial response. The dog with the partial response developed disease progression at 228 days after initiation of radiotherapy. Two dogs died from non-tumour-related causes. The remaining seven dogs were still alive and in complete remission at the time of last follow-up. Median progression-free survival time and median survival time were not reached. DRT was generally well tolerated, but all dogs experienced self-limiting acute radiation mucositis (grade 2-3) and/or dermatitis (grade 1). No late radiation toxicity was observed. Macroscopic COPSCC appears to be a radiosensitive tumour that can be successfully treated with DRT eliminating the need for aggressive surgery in advanced cases.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32975025/