Surgery alone versus surgery and doxorubicin for the treatment of feline injection-site sarcomas: a report on 69 cases

Vet J. 2005 Jul;170(1):84-90. doi: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2004.04.004.

Abstract

Sixty-nine cats were treated for injection-site sarcomas at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of Grugliasco, Turin (Italy). The animals were divided into two subgroups: those subjected to four doxorubicin cycles combined with radical surgical excision 10 days after the second chemotherapy cycle (group A, 49 cats) or those treated with surgery alone (group B, 20 cats). Each cat was monitored for lung metastasis and local recurrence. In group A, 28 cats were alive at the end of the follow-up period. In this group, the recurrence rate was 40.8% while lung metastasis occurred in 12% of cats. In group B, eight animals were alive at the end of the follow-up period, while the rates of recurrence and metastasis were 35% and 10%. Neither the median disease-free interval nor the median overall survival was reached in either group. Moreover, there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / administration & dosage
  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / therapeutic use*
  • Cat Diseases / drug therapy
  • Cat Diseases / mortality*
  • Cat Diseases / pathology
  • Cat Diseases / surgery
  • Cats
  • Chemotherapy, Adjuvant / veterinary
  • Disease-Free Survival
  • Doxorubicin / administration & dosage
  • Doxorubicin / therapeutic use*
  • Drug Administration Schedule
  • Female
  • Italy / epidemiology
  • Male
  • Neoadjuvant Therapy / veterinary
  • Neoplasm Metastasis
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / mortality
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / veterinary*
  • Sarcoma / mortality
  • Sarcoma / veterinary*
  • Soft Tissue Neoplasms / mortality
  • Soft Tissue Neoplasms / veterinary*
  • Survival Analysis
  • Vaccination / adverse effects
  • Vaccination / veterinary

Substances

  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic
  • Doxorubicin