Feasibility and safety of whole lung irradiation in the treatment of canine appendicular osteosarcoma

Whole lung irradiation (WLI) has been used successfully in humans as an adjuvant treatment for osteosarcoma. The aim of this study is to describe the feasibility and safety of WLI in dogs with appendicular osteosarcoma. Twelve client‐owned dogs with appendicular osteosarcoma that had successfully completed amputation and four doses of carboplatin without evidence of gross metastasis were enrolled in this prospective clinical trial. Ten once‐daily fractions of 1.75 Gy were administered to the planning target volume encompassing the lungs. Overall, WLI was well tolerated in these patients. No dogs developed symptoms of pneumonitis or pulmonary fibrosis. Haematopoietic toxicity evaluated during radiation therapy was found to be mild. The median disease free interval for WLI treated dogs was not significantly different than the median DFI for a group of historic control dogs (376 days for WLI treated dogs versus 304.5 days for control dogs; p = 0.5461). Although no significant improvement in outcome was observed with this study, WLI appears to be safe in dogs and warrants further investigation to characterize the efficacy and toxicity.