FAQ
What treatments are available for animals with cancer?
Various combinations of therapies including surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, and immunotherapy are now offered to achieve control of malignancies in both humans and animals. If the tumor is small and unlikely to spread, of course, surgery is still the best method to effect a cure. Hopefully, all malignant cells can be removed by this method before any spread occurs to other organs. With some tumors, however, regrowth either occurs rapidly or surgical resection is impossible due to the location or extensiveness of the cancer. In these instances, radiation therapy is the best option, presuming that the particular cancer cells are radiosensitive. Chemotherapy is used if there is disseminated disease or if the surgically removed cancer is likely to have spread microscopically to other organs. Hormonal therapy may be useful in tumors that are hormonally-dependent, such as breast cancer or prostatic neoplasia. In some cancers, immunotherapeutic treatment using vaccines, anti-tumor antibodies, or drugs which can modulate the immune system may be useful. When your veterinarian is deciding on the best combination of therapies for your pet, he or she will take into account all the information discovered during the tumor workup and staging.
Treatment of cancer in dogs and cats has been extremely limited until the last two decades. An animal with a small tumor received surgery; if that tumor grew back or spread to other organs, the animal was probably euthanized. However, many options are now available at treatment centers all over the country (fig.1).
Figure 1: Some conventional modes of therapy available to treat the cancer patient include surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy.
Various combinations of therapies including surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, and immunotherapy are now offered to achieve control of malignancies in both humans and animals. If the tumor is small and unlikely to spread, of course, surgery is still the best method to effect a cure. Hopefully, all malignant cells can be removed by this method before any spread occurs to other organs. With some tumors, however, regrowth either occurs rapidly or surgical resection is impossible due to the location or extensiveness of the cancer. In these instances, radiation therapy is the best option, presuming that the particular cancer cells are radiosensitive. Chemotherapy is used if there is disseminated disease or if the surgically removed cancer is likely to have spread microscopically to other organs. Hormonal therapy may be useful in tumors that are hormonally-dependent, such as breast cancer or prostatic neoplasia. In some cancers, immunotherapeutic treatment using vaccines, anti-tumor antibodies, or drugs which can modulate the immune system may be useful. When your veterinarian is deciding on the best combination of therapies for your pet, he or she will take into account all the information discovered during the tumor workup and staging.
