Currently no standard of care exists for advanced, inoperable or metastatic anal sac adenocarcinoma (ASAC). The objective of this retrospective study was to assess the role of hypofractionated radiation therapy (RT) in 77 dogs with measurable ASAC. A total of 38% of dogs experienced a partial response to RT. For dogs presenting with clinical signs related to the tumour, improvement or resolution of signs was noted in 63%. For dogs presenting with hypercalcemia of malignancy, resolution was noted in 31% with RT alone and an additional 46% with radiation, prednisone, and/or bisphosphonates. Median overall survival was 329 days (range: 252-448 days). Median progression free survival was 289 days (range: 224-469). There was no difference in survival based on radiation protocol, use of chemotherapy, previous surgery or advanced stage. Radiation toxicities were mild and infrequent. Hypofractionated RT is well tolerated and is applicable in the treatment of advanced primary, locoregional or metastatic ASAC.

Heart base tumours (HBT) occur commonly in older, brachycephalic dogs. A presumptive diagnosis is made based on location and appearance of the tumour via echocardiogram. Effective treatment options are limited to surgery (when feasible) or radiation therapy. Benefit of medical management is presently unknown. The goal of this retrospective study was to assess the efficacy and tolerability of toceranib phosphate for dogs with HBT. Twenty-eight dogs with histologically, cytologically confirmed or presumed HBT were evaluated retrospectively. Twenty-seven dogs were treated with single agent toceranib. One dog received combination therapy with concurrent metronomic chemotherapy. This dog was not included in response or survival analysis.Factors assessed included clinical signs, hematologic/biochemical parameters and response to treatment. For the 27 dogs receiving single agent toceranib, an overall response rate of 10% was found. Overall median survival time was 823 days (range, 68-1190 days). The overall response rate for the dogs presenting with metastasis was 28.5%, with a median survival time of 532 days (range, 77-679 days). This was not significantly different than the median survival time of 796 days for dogs who did not present with metastasis. Of the dogs displaying clinical signs at the time of diagnosis, 90% had improvement and 81% had complete resolution of signs after starting toceranib. Toxicity was seen in 54% of dogs with gastrointestinal distress as the most common toxicity but dose reductions were infrequent required. Results demonstrate that toceranib phosphate is a well-tolerated and effective treatment for inoperable canine heart base tumours including dogs with advanced or metastatic disease. K E Y W O R D S canine, chemodectoma, heart base tumour, Palladia, toceranib phosphate

It is well established that tumour cells have metabolic differences when compared with normal cells. This is particularly true for energy metabolism in which dogs with cancer have been reported to have higher blood insulin and lactate concentrations than control dogs. Moreover, some human and animal studies suggest that the insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) signalling pathway may play a role in tumorigenesis and tumour progression. At present, IGF-1 has not been evaluated in dogs with multicentric lymphoma. In this prospective, cross-sectional study, blood levels of IGF-1, as well as other markers of energy metabolism-insulin, glucose, lactate, and β-hydroxybutyrate-were measured in 16 dogs with histologically or cytologically confirmed treatment-naïve lymphoma. These results were compared with 16 age-, sex- and weight-matched healthy controls. Dietary histories were collected, and protein, fat and carbohydrate intake were compared between groups. Results demonstrated that IGF-1, insulin, glucose and insulin:glucose ratio were not different between groups. However, lactate and β-hydroxybutyrate were higher in the dogs with lymphoma than that in the control dogs (1.74 ± 0.83 mmoL/L vs 1.08 ± 0.27 and 2.59 ± 0.59 mmol/L vs 0.77 ± 0.38 mmol/L, respectively). Median dietary protein, fat and carbohydrates did not differ between the groups. This preliminary study suggests that higher insulin and IGF-1 levels relative to controls may not be a consistent finding in dogs with lymphoma. The significance of increased β-hydroxybutyrate in dogs with lymphoma warrants further investigation in a larger prospective study.