Practical Canine and Feline Oncology

Vanessa L. Rizzo 

ISBN: 9781394266241

Wiley-Blackwell

March 2026

304 pages

Description

A detailed and clinically focused guide to treating small animal cancers in general veterinary practices

Practical Canine and Feline Oncology is a practical, hands-on guide for veterinarians treating small animals with cancer in general veterinary practice. The book provides step-by-step details for how to effectively diagnose, treat, and monitor patients with oncologic disease when referral is not an option. It also offers critical background information on clinical best practices and diagnostic procedures, with a strong focus on the most common malignancies seen in dogs and cats.

Beginning with an introduction to oncogenesis and paraneoplastic syndromes, diagnostics, and therapeutics, the book moves on to cover specific, frequently encountered malignancies in self-contained chapters. Each chapter describes a disease’s behavior, pathophysiology, required and beneficial tests, and treatment options available to general veterinary practitioners, as well as some treatment options that are available but require significant care and caution in general care contexts.

Readers will also find:

• Detailed, practical information supporting general practice veterinarians in managing small animal patients with cancer

• Comprehensive explorations of specific, common malignancies that often present in a first opinion veterinary practice

• Practical discussions of common clinical issues, including managing the patient’s family, pain, and nutritional needs

• Concise and accurate introductions to oncogenesis and to the general diagnostic and therapeutic techniques commonly used in small animal cancer treatment

Practical Canine and Feline Oncology offers real-world advice and guidance to small animal general practitioners and veterinary students, as well as interns and residents.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Acknowledgement xi

PART 1 Overview

1 Preventing Cancer in Dogs and Cats: Is It Possible? 3

2 Oncogenesis 12

3 Paraneoplastic Syndromes 19

4 Practical Diagnostics 25

PART 2 Practical Therapeutics

5 Cancer Chemotherapy 33

6 Select Individual Chemotherapies 49

a) Carboplatin

b) CCNU

c) Chlorambucil

d) Cyclophosphamide

e) Doxorubicin

f) L-ASPARAGINASE

g) Melphalan

h) Mitoxantrone

i) Satraplatin

j) Tanovea

k) Temodar

l) Vinblastine

m) Vincristine

7 Select Multidrug Chemotherapy Protocols 65

a) CCNU + Cyclophosphamide Combination Protocol for Canine Lymphoma

b) C.O.P. Protocol for Canine or Feline Lymphoma

c) Doxorubicin-Based Combination Protocol for Canine Lymphoma

d) Doxorubicin-Based Combination Protocol for Feline Lymphoma

e) Six Week/Truncated Doxorubicin-Based Combination Protocol for Canine Lymphoma

8 Tumor Lysis Syndrome 74

9 Small Molecule Inhibitors 77

10 Immunotherapy 93

11 Intratumoral Injections 98

12 Repurposing Drugs in Veterinary Oncology 102

13 Diets for Cancer Treatment: Is Any Science Behind It? 111

14 Managing Chronic Pain 115

PART 3 Common Malignancies in Small Animals

15 The Aggressive Lymphomas and Leukemias 143

16 Indolent Lymphomas and Leukemia 155

17 Plasma Cell Neoplasm/Myeloma Related Disorders 160

18 Canine Mast Cell Tumors 164

19 Feline Mast Cell Tumors 172

20 Melanoma 178

21 Soft Tissue Sarcoma 190

22 Oral Tumors 199

23 Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor 204

24 Apocrine Gland Anal Sac Adenocarcinoma 207

25 Splenic Nodules and Masses 213

26 Canine Splenic Stromal Cell Tumors 218

27 Primary Pulmonary Tumors 222

28 Osteosarcoma 228

29 Thyroid Carcinoma 237

30 Canine Insulinoma 243

31 Mammary Gland Tumor 248

32 Canine Urothelial Carcinoma 257

33 Hemangiosarcoma 262

34 Canine and Feline Thymic Epithelial Tumors (Thymomas and Thymic Carcinoma) 270

35 Histiocytic Sarcoma 275

Index 279

About the Author

Vanessa L. Rizzo, DVM, ACVIM (O), is the owner and operator of Hope Veterinary Oncology Services, a mobile oncology practice in Washington, USA, and Hope Veterinary Specialty Services, a telehealth service for primary care veterinarians who do not have access to specialty care in their region.