Efficacy and tolerability of a 12-week combination chemotherapy followed by lomustine consolidation treatment in canine B- and T-cell lymphoma

BACKGROUND: High-grade lymphoma in dogs is a chemotherapy-responsive neoplasia with remission rates exceeding 80% under combination chemotherapy protocols. Usually these protocols are intensive and 24 + weeks. The objective of the present study was to investigate if a shorter protocol combined with an oral lomustine maintenance treatment (3 × in 8 weeks) would present an acceptable result, both for B- and T-cell lymphomas, and for the different types of lymphomas normally encountered in private veterinary practice.

RESULTS: 144 dogs entered the study. Lymphoma types included multicentric (n = 123), alimentary (n = 13), miscellaneous (n = 7), and mediastinal lymphoma (n = 1). Overall response rate was 83.3% (B-cell: 86.6%, T-cell: 79.4%). Complete remission (CR) was achieved in 72.2% (B-cell: 77.3%, T-cell: 67.6%) and partial remission (PR) in 11.1% (B-cell: 9.3%, T-cell: 11.8%) of the dogs. Median duration of first CR amounted to 242 days (B-cell: 263 d, T-cell: 161 d). Median survival in dogs with CR was 374 days (B-cell: 436 d, T-cell: 252 d), and median overall survival time was 291 days (B-cell: 357d, T-cell: 210d). Immunophenotype demonstrated an independent significant influence on duration of remission and survival in the whole group. Findings of splenic and hepatic cytology were not significant associated with patient outcome. Treatment was well tolerated; the majority of adverse events were classified as grade 1 or 2.

CONCLUSIONS: Short-term chemotherapy followed by lomustine consolidation leads to compara-ble remission and survival times compared to conventional protocols with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisolone with acceptable toxicosis in dogs with both B-cell and T-cell lymphoma.