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Radiation Cancer Therapy for Pets |
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2007-02
Dogs and cats acquire malignant cancers just like people. And many cancers cannot be cured by surgical removal or chemotherapy (use of drugs to kill the cancer) alone. In many cases, radiation therapy can be used alone or in combination with chemotherapy and surgery to cure or at least shrink cancers to prolong the life of the patient. Just as important, the radiation treatments can also reduce or eliminate the pain caused to the patient by the cancer.
Some types of cancers can be entirely cured with the help of radiation treatment. In these cases, the patients are often put on a radiation protocol in which they undergo treatment 5 days a week, for 4 weeks in a row for a total of 20 treatments. Each treatment only takes a few minutes but because it must be precise, the patients must be anesthetized during the procedure so they remain motionless. This is in contrast to people when they are treated with radiation for their cancers. Most people will comply when the doctor overseeing their treatment tells them not to move during the radiation therapy so general anesthetic is not required.
Other types of cancers will not be cured by radiation treatment but may be shrunken by radiation for months to years lessening or eliminating the symptoms they cause for just as long. In these cases, the number of treatments might be less than the 20 often used to obtain a cure.
In either case, radiation therapy can be expensive, costing anywhere from 3,000 to 6,000 dollars or more for a series of treatments. In spite of this, more and more referral centers in Canada and the United States are offering radiation therapy for their client's pets. Side affects are common, but fortunately most are mild and self-limiting. For instance, if the radiation is directed in the throat area, a cough following therapy is quite common but usually goes away on its own.
The reader should keep in mind that radiation therapy is becoming more common and more popular in veterinary medicine throughout North America because it has been shown to be effective. Because of this, more and more pet owners are demanding this treatment option for their dog or cat when a cancer develops. |
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