Radiation therapy and dog cancer?
ByRadiation is a big gun in dog cancer therapy. There are many out there that would not even consider it….to hardcore, too scary. And honestly, many times they might be correct. But in some cases radiation should be at least considered.
For many it is out of the question. No nearby cancer referral center, no veterinary university, no money. But for those that live fairly close to a facility that offers this modality, it is an option.
Why do people opt for radiation for their dogs? What is the point?
Radiation is to help dogs that have cancers that are hard to cure. These cancers either never go away, or go away with treatment only temporarily. So people consider it as another way to increase their dog’s life expectancy or to hopefully improve life quality.
Radiation is used to decrease the tumor cell burden (kills certain types of cancer cells), in very few cancers can cure them. More and more frequently, it is used to help with tumor pain. If a tumor cannot be removed with surgery (inoperable), radiation can be an option as well.
What cancers are very sensitive to radiation (where radiation can kill a lot of the cancer cells)? Lymphosarcoma is a biggie, perianal adenoma/adenocarcinoma, neuroblastoma, plasmacytoma, and transmissable venereal tumor. Some other cancers that are moderately sensitive (radiation helps a bit) are nerve sheath tumors (hemangiopericytomas), fibrosarcomas, and histiocytomas.
Radiation can help control pain with osteosarcomas in dogs.
So that’s a bit of the good. Let’s look at the bad in the next blog post.
Best to all,
Dr Dressler
About the Author
Dr. Demian Dressler, DVM is known as the "dog cancer vet" and is author of Dog Cancer Survival Guide: Beyond Surgery, Chemotherapy & Radiation. Visit his blog and sign up free to get the latest information about canine cancer. Go to http://DogCancerBlog.com.
3 Comments
November 20th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Not to change the subject, I am new to this site, a question about cancers? August 2007 I had a female German Sheppard 12years old diagnosed with heartworms, by my own fault I quite giving her the heart guard during the fall of 2006 and did not give her any in 2007. She started the 3 stage treatment, 1 shot wait 4-6weeks then two shots in 2 days, while going through the treatment I keep her in the house to keep her calm for the entire time until around March 2007 when she was retested for hesrt worms and the results were negative. But in December of 2007 I noticed a lump on her anus/top left side that looked like a dog tick, my vet tried to aspirate it but was unsuccessful because the material inside was solid, they told me to watch for changes. After about three weeks the mass had grown about 30% bigger and had changed colors. I had my vet remove the mass and the histopathology results confirmed that it was a Perianal Adenocarcoma with No metastasis in the surrounding tissue excised; it was about 3/8 to ½ inch in diameter. This dog had been spayed at 6weeks and was 12.5 years when this cancer formed; my vet said it was very rare for a spayed female to develop this type of cancerous mass and the ones that do usually die from the metastasis. I was feeding her science diet and change to Canidae all life stages dog food, missed with about 10% boneless salmon and 10% whole grain rice. The vet said it would be fine. Do you have any ideas about what can cause this type of cancer, heartworms, weak immune system, or any ideas of what can be done to prevent this cancer from returning?
November 20th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Mike,
you may want to read some of the other blog posts. This is a topic that can fill a book, and actually has, which is coming soon courtesy of yours truly.
Some causes of cancer:
-genetics
-environmental toxins, especially herbicide, pesticide, industrial pollutants, smoke, fossil fuel emissions,etc
-free radical excess contributed by lack of natural antioxidants in diet
-carbohyrate excess found in commercial food
-sodium nitrates and nitrites (preservatives) converted to carcinogenic compounds in the stomach
-lack of sleep in total darkness
-stress, anxiety, and lack of social outlet leading to stress hormones favoring the growth of cancer cells
-dietary excess of a type of fat group called the omega six group setting up a cascade of reactions in the body that lead to cancer
This is only a partial list. So it is clear that we have a disease that is part western world living, part lifestyle, part breeding, and part dog mental state.
To completely answer your question it would be better try to read as many blog entries as possible….
I wish you good luck
D
February 12th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
I am one of those fortunate to live within 70 miles of a veterinary medical school with an oncology service. When my dog was diagnosed with nasal cancer, which is for all practical purposes inoperable, they recommended palliative radiation - to slow the tumor and to control pain. He had two treatments which involved only 15 minutes under anesthesia each time, and it doubled his life expectancy and quality. They preserved his vision with computerized mapping to aim the beam carefully and his only side effects were slight skin burning and hair loss on his muzzle. It was very well tolerated. I recommend it even if it cannot cure.