Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Melanoma vaccine used in 38 South African dogs after surgery
By McLean, Joanne L & Lobetti, Remo G·Published in Journal of the South African Veterinary Association·2015·Bryanston Veterinary Hospital·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Use of the melanoma vaccine in 38 dogs: The South African experience.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 38 dogs with melanoma, including 25 with oral melanoma, were treated with surgery followed by a vaccine called Oncept. This combination therapy significantly increased survival times, with dogs that received the vaccine living a median of 29 months compared to just 8 months for those that did not survive. The study showed that using Oncept as an additional treatment after surgery can help dogs with various types of melanoma live longer.
People also search for: dog melanoma treatment · Oncept vaccine for dogs · oral melanoma survival rate in dogs
Abstract
The commercially available vaccine Oncept is indicated for the management of dogs with stage II or III oral melanoma after local control has been achieved. Survival times in dogs with both oral and digit melanoma have been shown to be significantly increased following vaccination. This retrospective study was designed to document the investigators' experiences with Oncept vaccine when used as an adjunct therapy for treatment of stage II-IV oral, digit and malignant melanoma of other sites after local control had been achieved in dogs presented to a South African specialist referral veterinary practice. Thirty-eight dogs diagnosed with melanoma (25 oral, 6 digit and 7 infiltrative at various other sites) underwent a combination of surgical excision and Oncept vaccination. At the end of the study period there were 16 live and 22 dead dogs; median survival time of the live dogs was 29 months (range 2-46 months) versus 8 months (range 2-16 months) for those that died from progressive disease. This study showed that by using a combination of surgical excision and vaccination with Oncept survival times in dogs with malignant melanoma of the oral cavity, digit and other sites can be increased significantly.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26016668/