Comparative vaccine-specific and other injectable-specific risks of injection-site sarcomas in cats.
OBJECTIVE
To compare associations between vaccine types and other injectable drugs with development of injection-site sarcomas in cats.


METHODS
Case-control study.


METHODS
181 cats with soft tissue sarcomas (cases), 96 cats with tumors at non-vaccine regions (control group I), and 159 cats with basal cell tumors (control group II).


METHODS
Subjects were prospectively obtained from a large pathology database. Demographic, sarcoma location, basal cell tumor, and vaccine and other injectable history data were documented by use of a questionnaire and used to define case, control, and exposure status. Three control groups were included: cats with sarcomas at non-vaccine sites, cats with basal cell tumors, and a combined group of cats with sarcomas at non-vaccine sites and cats with basal cell tumors. χ(2) tests, marginal homogeneity tests, and exact logistic regression were performed.


RESULTS
In the broad interscapular region, the frequency of administration of long-acting corticosteroid injections (dexamethasone, methylprednisolone, and triamcinolone) was significantly higher in cases than in controls. In the broad rear limb region, case cats were significantly less likely to have received recombinant vaccines than inactivated vaccines; ORs from logistic regression analyses equaled 0.1, with 95% confidence intervals ranging from 0 to 0.4 and 0 to 0.7, depending on control group and time period of exposure used.


CONCLUSIONS
This case-control study measuring temporal and spatial exposures efficiently detected associations between administrations of various types of vaccines (recombinant vs inactivated rabies) and other injectable products (ie, long-acting corticosteroids) with sarcoma development without the need to directly measure incidence. These findings nevertheless also indicated that no vaccines were risk free. The study is informative in allowing practitioners to weigh the relative merits and risks of commonly used pharmaceutical products.
Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
Anup
A
Srivastav
Philip H
PH
Kass
Lawrence D
LD
McGill
Thomas B
TB
Farver
Michael S
MS
Kent
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000818:Animals; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D002415:Cats; D005260:Female; D007267:Injections / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male; D018295:Neoplasms, Basal Cell / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D014611:Vaccination / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000662:veterinary*; D014612:Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D015164:Vaccines, Inactivated / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D014612:Vaccines; D015164:Vaccines, Inactivated; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic