One in four dogs will develop cancer in their lifetime and anywhere from 3 to 12% of these patients will develop oral cancers. It is common to evaluate for spread of cancer to lymph nodes. Identification and treatment of these affected nodes early in the disease process can improve survival. Traditional methods used to evaluate lymph node involvement can be difficult and unreliable. The gold standard approach is surgical removal of multiple lymph nodes in proximity to the primary tumour and histology. However, given the invasiveness and recovery required after such procedures, non-invasive methods are needed to help clinicians make treatment decisions. Radiomics describes the ability to use computer-based analysis to extract clinically-relevant data from diagnostic images, such as computed tomography (CT) scans. The objective of this study is to identify radiomic biomarkers associated with lymph node status in dogs with oral cancers and to develop a radiomic model that can predict lymph node status. This approach could reduce the need for more invasive surgery and could aid clinical decision-making for veterinary oncologists.






