Dog Cancer Treatment - what are the options for your dog?

Posted by Clare Bristow

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Dog cancer treatments are developing all the time, and usually follow human treatments but with one important difference.

Cancer treatments tend to be less aggressive - lower doses and fewer combinations of drugs/treatments - in animals than in humans. The reason for this is that dog cancer treatment is more about alleviating pain, extending life and maintaining quality of life, than going for a cure at the expense of potentially severe complications and unnecessary suffering for your dog.

Before a treatment plan can be drawn up for your dog, his oncologist will need a thorough understanding of:

the type(s) of tumor your dog has;
the grade or stage of the tumor - basically this means how quickly is the cancer growing and is it spreading through the body;
the location of the tumor(s); and
the general health of your dog, such as is there any heart, disease, diabetes, are the liver and kidneys functioning healthy.

Once all this information is collected, your vet will outline a number of treatment options for you to consider. You'll normally have several options ranging from the conservative (least chance of a cure, but good at preserving short term quality of life) to the more radical (higher chance of cure but at what expense to you dog's quality of life?).

When deciding on a treatment plan some of the things to consider are:

do you have the time and financial commitment to see your dog through intensive treatment;
what would be the prognosis for your dog with each type of treatment;
what are the possible side effects of the treatment, and can you deal with them;
what is an acceptable quality of life for your dog, and could the treatments proposed give him this;
how much pain and discomfort is your dog currently suffering and will the proposed treatments improve this?

These are tough questions to ask, and the answers may not be want you want to hear. Take the time to discuss all your concerns and questions with your vet, dog's oncologist, friends and family, and support group.

Low intervention and extending your dog's life by a number of weeks may be the best life you can offer your dog rather rounds of surgery, radiation and drug treatments in exchange for a few extra months of life.

Only you can make the decision, and whatever decision you do make, trust yourself that it is the right one for your dog.

Types of Cancer and Their Treatment - A Summary

Bath-Brunswick Veterinary Associates has produced a summary of the treatments typically recommended for specific cancers. Their list is as follows:

Lymphoma - Chemotherapy
Mast Cell Tumors - Chemotherapy, Surgery (+/- radiation)
Fibrosarcomas - Surgical +/- chemotherapy, radiation
Oral Cancers - Surgical, with reconstruction
Mammary Tumors - Surgical (+/- chemotherapy follow-up)
Osteosarcomas (bone) - Surgical + chemotherapy follow-up
Hemangiosarcomas - Surgical + chemotherapy
Skin Tumors - Surgical +/- chemotherapy, radiation
Transitional Cell Carcinomas - Surgical + chemotherapy
Undifferentiated SarcomasSurgical +/- chemotherapy, radiation

Here is a bit more information about each treatment option:

Surgery

Surgery can cure cancer by removing a tumor in its entirety from your dog's body. It's most successful where there is a solid tissue tumor that is localized (hasn't spread to other parts of the body) and which is small in size.

The aim of the surgery will be to remove the tumor entirely. Where this is not possible, because of the size or the there is a risk of damaging surrounding tissue, part of the tumor will be removed.

Any part of the tumor left behind will be treated with another form of therapy such as radiation or chemotherapy.

Radiotherapy

With radiotherapy, a radioactive beam is focused on the tumor in order to damage/kill the malignant cells. The process aims to stop the tumor growing, and can offer good remission times for many tumors; radiotherapy cannot cure cancer.

Radiotherapy may be used:

after surgery where cancer cells remain with the aim of preventing the tumor from growing in size;
before surgery or chemotherapy to try and reduce the tumor size before treatment; and
where a cure is not possible, as palliative therapy to reduce the symptoms of cancer for as long as possible.

Radiotherapy is usually given as a series of treatments, rather than as one large dose because the radiation kills normal as well as cancerous cells. Your dog will require anesthesia for each dose of radiation in order to keep him still during the treatment.

Your dog may suffer radiation dermatitis as a side effect of radiotherapy. This is a reddening of the skin which may progress to a what looks like severe sunburn or a blistering rash on his skin. This will clear up, but it's important that your dog does not scratch the area as this could lead to it becoming infected. Another side effect is hair loss; the hair will grow back but sometimes the color will be different to what it was originally.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to control tumor growth, and will be a suggested treatment where the cancer is in more than one part of your dog's body and is likely to spread, or has spread, through his body.

The drugs administered are the same as those used for treating human cancer, but tend to show fewer side effects in dogs than humans. The reasons for this are that the drugs are administered in smaller doses and are used singularly or in fewer combinations than treatments for human cancer.

Your dog's intestinal tract, bone marrow and hair follicles are particularly sensitive to chemotherapy treatment. As a result, common side effects are loss of appetite, nausea and diarrhea, decrease in immunity and loss of hair respectively. Unlike humans, your dog's hair will usually grow back after chemotherapy treatment.

Chemotherapy can be administered orally, by injection or by slow infusion. Treatment intervals vary from weekly to three weekly, and your dog will require blood tests between treatments to confirm the effectiveness of the treatment. How long your dog needs to be treated will vary - it may be for the rest of his life, a for few weeks or months.

In may cases chemotherapy does not cure cancer, but can slow down the progression of the disease and give your dog a good quality of life.

Hormonal Therapy

Certain cancer, such as mammary cancer, can be treated via hormone therapy. By preventing the cancer cells receiving the hormones they need to grow and multiply, the cancer can be controlled.

Immunotherapy

There is a belief that some cancers grow due to a defect in the body's immune system, and had the defect not been there, then the tumor's growth would have been suppressed.

The therapy works by boosting the body's immune system to fight off the cancer.

Immunotherapy is an emerging treatment for cancer, and there is currently a great deal of research being undertaken into how it works and it's effectiveness in fighting the disease.

Alternative Therapy

This is a generic term for treatments such as herbal supplements, acupuncture, massage and other treatments that are not considered to be mainstream western medicine.

There is only anecdotal evidence of the efficacy of these therapies for successfully curing cancer, and they are usually used for palliative care.

Nutrition Therapy

Whilst not a cure in itself, nutrition forms an important part in the survival of your dog during his cancer treatment, and I'll look at nutrition therapy in more detail in the next article.

Cancer Treatment is Ongoing

Whatever treatment option you choose for your dog, he will require ongoing observation and treatment for the rest of his life.

If the cancer goes into remission, or it's successfully removed by surgery, you'll need to maintain regular veterinary visits to monitor your dog for any reappearance of the cancer.

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