Canine lymphoma is a malignant cancer that frequently strikes dogs of
middle age. Any breed can contract it, but it seems that Golden
Retrievers tend to develop it more than others.
If you're the owner of a
middle aged dog, particularly a Golden Retriever, you may be interested
in knowing what the treatment options are should your dog develop this
type of cancer.
Chemotherapy is highly effective in treating
canine lymphoma. Most effective are multi-agent chemotherapy regimens
that employ a combination of drugs. There has been more success with
this regimen than with treatment using only a single drug.
Eighty
percent of dogs that receive multi-agent chemotherapy regimens go into a
year-long remission. While it's possible for them to experience a
second remission, it's typically not as long as the first one. As some
of the cancer cells will develop a resistance to the first round of
drugs used, there will be a need to find the right regimen of drugs for
the second remission to work. This is done by simple trial and error. It
should be noted that even though the multi-agent regimen increases the
dog's life span, they are more expensive and toxic than single drug
regimens.
How successful the chemotherapy treatment is depends
on where the tumor is located, what stage the cancer is in, and how
healthy the dog is when the cancer is diagnosed. Lymphoma of the bone
marrow or the thymus decrease chances for a remission. Dogs that aren't
exhibiting any signs such as diarrhea and vomiting and seem to feel well
at the initial diagnosis seem to respond better to chemotherapy. Side
effects of chemotherapy in dogs are usually minimal and mild. These may
include loss of appetite, diarrhea, vomiting and low blood cell count.
Prednisone,
a type of corticosteroid, can provide up to 2 to 3 months remission.
This method is used when the dog isn't a good candidate for chemotherapy
or the owner can't afford the expense of it. This basically makes the
dog's remaining time more comfortable.
While one university
offers canine bone marrow transplant, this is a highly expensive
procedure. It offers a 30 percent cure rate so far. They're hoping to
make that higher in the future.
Summary
Canine lymphoma
seems to typically affect middle aged dogs but is not as hopeless as it
used to be when you choose the proper treatment.
Article Tags:
Canine Lymphoma