Chemotherapy For Dogs With Lung Cancer

Both vinblastine and or carboplatin are generally used as the chemotherapy drug.

Chemotherapy for dogs with lung cancer.

The second kind of lung cancer in dogs is called metastatic lung cancer which means the cancer originated somewhere else in the body but has spread to the lung. As in humans with cancer chemotherapy is used as a treatment for cancer in dogs. Right now the main focus for that is in dogs with melanoma and osteo sarcoma intile said. Metastatic lung cancer can be treated with radiation or chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy is the main treatment for small cell lung cancer sclc but doctors may also use it before or after surgery or instead of surgery in non small cell lung cancer nsclc. So if a dog that first got cancer in their mouth for instance or in their bones they risk the chance of it metastasizing through the bloodstream to the lungs. Based on this information there are many theoretical advantages to chemotherapy s use in pets. However because the tumors are so rare studies are lacking regarding proving its benefit for dogs and cats.

Now some places are even doing research and clinical treatment of patients with immunotherapy tumor vaccines where we re using the immune system to stimulate the destruction of the cancer. This is a type of vaccine that is used to stimulate your dog s own immune system to attack the cancer. Before surgery neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Chemotherapy plays a large role in treating lung cancers in people.

Neoadjuvant chemo may be used sometimes with radiation therapy to try to shrink a tumor to remove it with less extensive surgery. Adding to your vet s cancer arsenal of surgery radiation and chemotherapy is another option. I recommend treatment with a drug called vinorelbine. Not all people with non small cell lung cancer nsclc will need chemo but depending on the cancer s stage and other factors chemo may be recommended in different situations.

The fda approved the first drug for treating canine cancer in dogs in june 2009. Dogs often receive lower doses of chemo than humans though some side effects are still experienced.