The best surgical technique for the treatment of mammary tumors in female dogs has been exhaustively debated among the scientific community. Despite biological knowledge of these tumors, some authors have suggested aggressive procedures, without any clinical advantage. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of surgical procedure on the overall survival, disease-free interval and new lesion development interval in dogs with mammary tumors treated according to established prognostic factors. This prospective study included 143 intact female dogs that underwent surgery for mammary neoplasms and were followed up for about 738.5 days. Each animal represented a repetition. Each surgical technique represented a group: lumpectomy (P1), mammectomy (P2), regional mastectomy without cranial abdominal gland involvement (P3), regional mastectomy with cranial abdominal gland involvement (P4), and radical mastectomy (P5). Considering only the first surgical event, 84.6% of animals had more than one mammary tumor, and tumors were identified in two mammary chains in 52.5%. There was no difference in ipsilateral and contralateral tumor development when surgical techniques were compared. Only 33 dogs developed new lesions in remaining mammary tissue, without correlation with primary lesion. Surgical technique had no effect on the overall survival, diseasefree interval and new lesion development interval in patients on this study, which respected oncological surgery principles and established prognostic factors for mammary gland tumors in dogs.

Targeted therapy of neoplasms is an emergent approach in human and veterinary medicine. Cyclooxygenase (COX) is a class of catalytic enzymes related to the formation of inflammatory mediators. COX-2 is expressed constitutively in

Extramedullary plasmacytomas (EPs) are responsible for 2.5% of neoplasms in dogs. They are solitary, smooth, elevated, pink or red nodules, of 1 to 2cm in diameter. Cutaneous and oral extramedullary plasmacytomas in dogs are usually benign tumors, treated with local therapies. Prognosis is generally good. Recurrence and metastatic rates are low. Electrochemotherapy is a local treatment that combines chemotherapy and electroporation and shows objective responses of 70% to 94% with few local and systemic side effects. This scientific communication has the objective to report treatment of three canine patients with oral extramedullary plasmacytoma. Nodules were located on the tongue and patients were submitted to one or two electrochemotherapy sessions, which preserved the tongue without mutilation and cured the patients.

Background: Melanoma is the most frequent cancer in the canine oral cavity. It shows an aggressive behavior, characterized by rapid and invasive growth and high metastatic potential. Metastasis is seen in more than 80% of dogs at time of death. Adjuvant therapy should be recommended because of potential recurrence and metastasis. Oral melanoma has a poor prognosis even when adjuvant treatments are used. There are some treatment options, but the high death rate due to the disease is still a challenge. The aim of this study was to assess the overall survival of dogs diagnosed with oral melanoma and treated with adjuvant chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Materials, Methods & Results:A retrospective analysis was carried out in 20 dogs with oral melanocytic or amelanocytic melanomas. Cases were staged according to a modified World Health Organization clinical staging system for canine oral malignant melanoma. Tumor size (T1: < 2 cm; T2: 2 - 4 cm; T3: > 4 cm), regional metastasis (N0: no metastasis; N1: metastasis) and presence of distant metastasis (M0: no metastasis; M1: metastasis) are evaluated. Then, cases were divided into 4 stages: I (T1 N0 M0), II (T2 N0 M0), III (T3 N0-1 M0, Tx N1 M0) and IV (Tx Nx M1). Diagnoses were confirmed with histopathological exam and immunohistochemistry (IHC) when necessary. In poorly differentiated neoplasms, IHC was performed at the request of the submitting veterinarian using specific markers PNL-2 and Melan-A. Animals were divided into 2 groups: dogs submitted to surgery alone were included in group 1 (G1); dogs submitted to surgery associated with adjuvant chemotherapy with four 21-day cycles of carboplatin (300 mg/m2) and immunotherapy with six 7-day cycles of interferon-α (3 x 106 IU/m2) were included in group 2 (G2). Twenty dogs diagnosed with oral melanoma were evaluated: 3 were included in G1 and 17 in G2. Considering clinical staging of the dogs: 7 stage II, 12 stage III and only 1 stage IV. There was no stage I patients. In poorly differentiated neoplasias, IHC was performed at the request of the submitting veterinarian using specific markers PNL-2 and Melan-A. Patient follow-up was obtained through the evaluation of patient records and telephone interviews with owners. The overall survival time (OS) was defined by the period (in days) between the date of surgical excision and the death caused by the disease. Median overall survival time was 86 days for animals in G1 and 894 days for animals in G2 (P = 0.01). Discussion: Carboplatin was considered an appropriate cytostatic drug to treat microscopic disease in oral melanoma. INF-α was chosen for immunotherapy in this study because it promotes immune system stimulation associated with an indirect antiproliferative effect on neoplastic cells. The association of INF-α and carboplatin resulted in a significant increase in overall survival, when compared to the literature, suggesting that association of chemotherapy and immunomodulation is an important strategy in the treatment of canine oral melanoma. Controlled prospective randomized trials are necessary to confirm the benefits of chemotherapy and immunotherapy association to treat canine oral melanoma. Adjuvant therapy with chemotherapy and immunotherapy was considered effective to increase overall survival and maintained quality of life of dogs diagnosed with oral melanoma.

Mammary gland tumors represent 42% of all tumors in the bitch. Although there are numerous studies about disease development and progression, some questions remain concerning the surgical treatment. Many surgical techniques may be used for the treatment of canine mammary tumors similar to Medicine, the advantages and disadvantages of each procedure have been extensively discussed. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the influence of surgical procedure on survival, disease free interval and new lesion development interval in dogs with mammary tumors treated according to the biological behavior of these lesions. For this, 143 intact bitches were submitted to surgery for the treatment of mammary tumors between 2007 and 2011. Removal of mammary tumors was performed through the simplest and less invasive surgical procedure necessary for the complete removal of all tumors and main known lymphatic connections between affected glands: lumpectomy, mammectomy, regional mastectomy (including abdominal cranial mammary gland or not) or radical mastectomy. Mean clinical follow-up was 738.5 days. Considering only the first surgical event, 84.6% of animals had more than one mammary tumor, and 52.5% had tumors in both mammary chains. Comparing surgical techniques, there was no difference in ipsilateral and contralateral tumor development. Only 33 dogs developed new lesions in remaining mammary tissue, without correlation with primary lesion. Surgical technique had no effect on overall survival, disease-free interval and new lesion development interval in patients on this study, treated according to oncological surgery principles and established prognostic factors for mammary gland tumors in dogs. It is important to consider these results when deciding on the surgical management of dogs with mammary tumors, to avoid aggressive surgical procedures that will not translate into clinical advantages to the patient.