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ABC HEALTH SEMINAR SUMMARIES
Dr. Jaime Modiano: Hemangiosarcoma and Lymphoma
HEMANGIOSARCOMA:
Hemangiosarcoma is a tumor of the cells that line the blood vessels.
It represents approximately 7% of all canine cancers, and its potential
for metastasis is very high. Some of the breeds at highest risk of
developing hemangiosarcoma are GSDs, Goldens, and Boxers.
Hemangiosarcoma is a very aggressive and fast-moving cancer – with
chemotherapy, a dog might last six months.
Dr. Modiano believes there will be an early detection test within 18
months! Using markers to detect the presence of circulating HAS cell,
researchers may be able to create a vaccine that will "cure"
hemangiosarcoma (i.e. make the tumor go away).
Dr. Modiano said that early diagnosis will improve the success of
current standard-of-care therapy, whose goal is extended remission.
LYMPHOMA
Lymphoma is the 5th most common cancer in people and one
of the 3 most common cancers in dogs. The median survival time for dogs
using current chemotherapy treatment is 14 months; without treatment,
survival time is plus or minus 90 days. No "natural" or
"alternative" therapy has proven to offer any benefit over no
treatment.
The two types of lymphoma are "B-cell" and
"T-cell." A much larger percentage of lymphoma in dogs is the
B-cell type, which is much easier to deal with and therefore
"better" than T-cell lymphoma. The standard treatment is
multi-agent chemotherapy. In the case of a relapse, however, the
available rescue protocols are not very effective.
Dr. Modiano also discussed Indolent Small Cell Lymphoma (chronic
lymphocytic leukemia), which he said should be treated only if clinical
signs are evident. He said that dogs with ISCL account for most of the
alternative therapy "success stories."
As for breed predilection, Dr. Modiano said Boxers are the breed with
the highest lifetime risk of developing lymphoma – they have more than
four times the risk of other breeds! The risk factors may be
familial, and lymphoma in dogs and people look the same at the molecular
level.
Dr. Modiano illustrated his talk with a number of slides, several of
which have not yet been published (real cutting-edge stuff!). He asked
that we not reproduce the slides in our video of his presentation.
Dr. Modiano concluded his talk by saying we will not be able to
eliminate lymphoma, but we can hope to lower the risk to lower than 4x
that of other breeds of dogs. He also noted that even though the risk
factor was greater for Boxers, 1 in 8 Goldens will die of lymphoma. |
