title: Outcome following treatment of vertebral tumors in 20 dogs (1986-1995).
abstract: Twenty dogs with histopathologically confirmed primary (n=15) or metastatic (n=5) osteosarcoma (n=14) or fibrosarcoma (n=6) of the vertebral column were treated with surgery (n=4), radiation therapy and chemotherapy (n=6), surgery and chemotherapy (n=2), or surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy (n=8). All dogs died due to their disease; 15 died due to local failure, and five died due to nonvertebral metastasis. Overall median survival time was 135 days, with a range of 15 to 600 days. Of the factors evaluated, only postoperative neurological status had a significant influence on outcome by multivariate analysis. This study supports the overall guarded prognosis for dogs with vertebral neoplasia. Better combinations of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy remain to be defined for this difficult subset of animal cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins 80523, USA.
authors.forename: W S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Dernell
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Van Vechten
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Straw
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: LaRue
authors.forename: B E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Powers
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Withrow
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003120:Colorado / Q000453:epidemiology; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D005354:Fibrosarcoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male; D012516:Osteosarcoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy / Q000662:veterinary*; D011996:Records / Q000662:veterinary; D013125:Spinal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy / Q000662:veterinary*; D016019:Survival Analysis