Survival Outcomes of Dogs with Appendicular Osteosarcoma Treated with Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine: Retrospective Analysis of 7 Cases

Canine appendicular osteosarcoma (OSA) is an aggressive, malignant bone tumor of the limbs with high metastatic potential. Even with surgery and chemotherapy, average survival is approximately 52 weeks (1 year) and with surgery only, survival shortens to 26 weeks (6 months). This retrospective case series reports the post-amputation survival outcomes of 8 dogs with appendicular OSA. Four dogs (4/8) were treated with a combination of conventional therapeutics (chemotherapy, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs/NSAIDS) and traditional Chinese veterinary medicine (TCVM). The TCVM therapy was composed of various combinations of acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, food therapy and Tui-na. Three dogs (3/8) were treated with post-surgical TCVM without conventional therapy. One dog (1/8) received post-surgical chemotherapy (1 round) and NSAIDS. Among the 7 dogs receiving TCVM treatments, the median survival time was 114.4 weeks (ranging from 36.0 to 346.1 weeks). Patients who received conventional treatment and TCVM had greater median survival time (120 weeks) compared to those receiving TCVM treatment only (53 weeks). There were 6 (85.7%) TCVM-treated dogs that survived more than 1 year and 4 (57.1%) that lived more than 2 years after amputation. Based on Wilcoxon signed rank test, the median survival time of TCVM-treated subjects was significantly longer than the expected average survival of 52 weeks/1 year (p = 0.023). The NSAID/chemotherapy (1 round) treated dog survived 11 weeks. The study, while with limited cases, concluded that TCVM treatments might be beneficial to prolong the survival time in OSA dogs after amputation. Randomized controlled trials are warranted to confirm these observations.