CLINICAL CASE OF PALLIATIVE THERAPY OF HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA OF A DOG

The article studies the efficacy of palliative combination therapy with silymarin, celecoxib and cyclophosphamide in metronomic mode for inoperable hepatocellular carcinoma in a dog. The studies were conducted at the veterinary clinic of the «Zoostil» Animal Health and Beauty Center in Volgograd and at the Department of Morphology, Animal Pathology and Biology of the Vavilov University. Ultrasound-guided fine-needle biopsy, 3-view chest radiography, echocardiography, abdominal ultrasound, morphological and biochemical blood tests were performed. Clinical diagnosis: massive tumor in the right lateral lobe of the liver. Cytomorphological diagnosis: hepatocellular carcinoma. No distant metastases were detected in the lungs. Concomitant diseases and conditions: mitral valve endocardiosis, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with left atrial dilation, ascites. Blood morphological examination revealed leukocytosis (exceeding the maximum values by 149.41 %), granulocytosis, and signs of anemia. At the time of the animal’s initial admission, the ALT level exceeded the reference values by 3.2 times, alkaline phosphatase by 6.8 times, and cholesterol by 13 %. Specific antitumor therapy had not been performed previously. Characteristics of the therapy we performed: silymarin at a dose of 50 mg per 1 kg of animal weight per day, in 2 doses, daily; celecoxib at a dose of 3 mg per 1 kg of animal weight, once a day, daily; cyclophosphamide at a dose of 15 mg per 1 m2 once a day, daily. All drugs were administered orally. The purpose and duration of the metronomic therapy is palliative, 99 days. The results obtained indicate the effectiveness of palliative combination therapy, in metronomic mode, of inoperable spontaneous hepatocellular carcinoma in a dog – achieving stabilization of the process, improving the quality of life within 8 weeks and increasing the median life expectancy to 14 weeks.