00826-A: Percutaneous Cryoablation in Canine Osteosarcoma

Grant Amount: $10,074.63

Dale Bjorling, DVM; University of Wisconsin, Madison

August 1, 2006 - July 31, 2007

Sponsor(s): Golden Retriever Foundation, Nick & Patti Materra

Breed(s): -All Dogs

Research Program Area: Oncology - Osteosarcoma

Abstract

Osteosarcoma is the most common primary bone tumor of dogs. This cancer most often affects long bones (radius, humerus, femur, and tibia) creating significant pain and lameness in affected dogs. The most common treatment for this disease is limb amputation that results in average survival times of 4 months without, and 12 months with, postoperative chemotherapy. Owners are often reluctant to have their dogs undergo limb amputation due to the relatively short postoperative life expectancy, especially in giant breed dogs and dogs with concurrent orthopedic problems. Elimination of the primary tumor is not curative, and 98 percent of these dogs have some form of metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis. In special circumstances, a limb-sparing procedure may be performed during which the tumor-laden bone is removed and replaced with an implant. While this surgery often creates a functional limb, it has significant limitations. It is only suitable for a subset of cases, infection rates are high, it is relatively expensive, and tumors grow back locally in up to 30 percent of dogs. Palliation and pain reduction may be achieved by administration of 1-4 doses of radiation therapy for dogs not treated with surgery. About 74 percent of dogs receiving radiation experience pain reduction, with a median response time of 2.5 months. Unfortunately, radiation may only be given once and duration of pain relief is relatively short. Thus, while there are current treatment options that are tailored to individual patients based on owner preference and individual patient factors, including arthritis, body conformation, anticipated ability to walk on 3 legs, etc., none of these are optimal. Radiation is the most common therapy for humans with painful metastatic bone cancer, and response rates are similar to those observed in dogs. Cryoablation of tumors has recently become a viable minimally-invasive treatment option for malignant and benign bone tumors in humans. This technology uses a small (1.7-2.4 mm) probe inse

Publication(s)

None at this time.