Veterinary Highlights: Stereotactic RadioSurgery For Dogs With Osteosarcoma

RadioSurgery is used instead of surgery, when traditional surgery with a scalpel blade is impossible or would cause unacceptable side effects to the patient (for example, in brain or nasal tumors), or when surgery is refused (for example, an amputation for bone osteosarcoma).



Stereotactic RadioSurgery (SRS), can be used as a limb-sparing technique.

While palliative radiation is mostly focused on pain relief, this technique delivers high doses of radiation directly to the bone tumor cells with extreme precision.

It follows the contours of the tumor with millimeter to sub-millimeter accuracy.

Higher dose of radiation can be delivered to the tumor, while sparing surrounding tissue. It also allows for fever treatments. For bone tumors, dogs receive 3 treatments total.

Dogs treated with SRS and chemotherapy to control metastatis had survival time of about one year, similar to dogs treated with amputation and chemotherapy.

Dogs with a bone close to fracturing, particularly with a lot of bone already destroyed, are not good candidates for this procedure.

Source article:
Osteosarcoma: When Amputation Is Not an option, part 2