Brain Tumors

Brain Neoplasia, presentation

synonyms: CNS tumors, central nervous system neoplasms

Review of the disease in dogs:

History & Signalment
- older animals
- age at presentation ranged from 6-10 years old
- the sex ratio was 7:3 in favor of the male
- different tumor types
- meningioma
- astrocytoma
- anaplastic sarcoma
- undifferentiated glioma

Clinical signs
- seizures, seen in 6 of the 10 animals

- circling, 5 of the 10
- hemiparesis, 4 of 10
- blindness or visual deficits, 4 of 10
- tetraparesis, 3 of 10
- head tilt, 2 of 10
- other signs seen in only one animal:
- semi-coma
- hypermetria
- multiple cranial nerve deficits
- behavior change

Jeffery N, Brearley, MJ
Brain tumours in the dog: Treatment of 10 cases and review of recent literature

J Sm Anim Prac, JSAP, 34:367-371, 1993

Brain Neoplasia, diagnostic options

synonyms: CNS tumors, central nervous system neoplasms

Review of the disease in dogs:

- computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR)
- result in better diagnosis of intracranial tumors enabling
logical treatment regimens to be planned
- CT demonstrated a mass lesion in all but one case for which
MR imaging was necessary

Jeffery N, Brearley, MJ
Brain tumours in the dog: Treatment of 10 cases and review of
recent literature
J Sm Anim Prac, JSAP, 34:367-371, 1993

Brain Neoplasia, outcomes

Synonyms: CNS tumors, central nervous system neoplasms

Retrospective study of 86 dogs

Death (17/85) or euthanasia (62/85)
- cause of death was tumor related in 66/79
- cause of death was treatment-related in 4/79

Still alive at the end of the study (5/85)
- treated with cobalt-60 radiation (5/5-2/5 in
conjunction with surgery)

Overall survival times ranged from 1 day to 42.4 mos with a
median survival time of 1.0 month

Treatment was the most significant factor related to

survival
- Dogs treated with cobalt-60 radiation therapy (25/86,
median survival = 4.9 mos) had significantly longer
median survival times than dogs treated with either
surgery +/- radioactive iodine 125 (16/86--median
survival=0.9 mo) or dogs treated symptomatically
(anticonvulsants and/or steroids) or not treated
(45/86, median survival = 0.2 mo)

The number of brain regions involved was a significant
prognostic factor after adjusting for treatment

- Dogs with a single region of the brain involved (41/86,
median survival time = 1.9 mo) had a significantly
greater median survival time than dogs with >1 site
involved (45/86, median survival time = 0.3 mo)

Severity of neurologic signs on initial exam was a
significant prognostic factor after adjusting for
treatment and number of brain regions involved
- Dogs with mild (17/86 median survival = 2.7 mo) or
moderate (51/86, median survival = 1.1 mo) neurologic

signs had significantly longer survival times than
dogs with severe neurologic signs (18/86, median
survival = 0.1 mo).

Heidner GL, Kornegay JN, Page RL, Dodge RK, Thrall DE
Analysis of survival in a retrospective study of 86 dogs with
brain tumors
J Vet Int Med, JVIM, 5[4]:219-226, Jul/Aug 1991