Evaluation of the Efficacy of Two Adjuvant Chemotherapeutic Regimens against Malignant Canine Mammary Tumours

Surgical excision is the treatment of choice for mammary tumours in dogs, however it alone yields unsatisfactory results in mammary tumours on account of their high rate of recurrence and metastasis in dogs. So, considering to the advantages of different chemotherapeutic drugs the present study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of two adjuvant chemotherapeutic regimens against canine mammary tumours. This study was conducted on 12 female dogs with a history of mammary tumour irrespective of breed. The animals with carcinoma were randomly divided into two groups containing a minimum of six animals each. In both the groups surgical excision was done followed by adjuvant chemotherapy. In group-I Inj. Doxorubicin and Inj. Paclitaxel while in group-II Inj. Doxorubicin and Inj. Carboplatin were administered intravenously on day 14th, 35th and 56th postoperatively. Haemato-biochemical examination, histopathological examination, radiographic examination and ultrasonographical evaluation were done at different time intervals. On radiographic examination, lung metastasis was not observed in most of the cases. Ultrasonographic findings revealed eight cases were having a malignant lymph node in which two cases were having metastatic lesion in spleen. After chemotherapy, ultrasonography revealed non-reactive lymph nodes and gradual disappearance of metastatic lesion on spleen after second cycle of chemotherapy which was completely disappeared after third cycle of chemotherapy in both the groups. On the basis of different parameters evaluated, it can be concluded that both the drug combinations were equally effective against carcinoma but higher rate of hypersensitivity reaction was seen with paclitaxel.