Results of surgical treatment in 65 dogs with osteosarcoma

Abstract

Clinical and necropsy findings were obtained from case records for 65 dogs treated surgically for osteosarcoma at the University of Pennsylvania Small Animal Hospital between July, 1952, and July, 1973, inclusive. The median age of the dogs was 6 years. There were 39 males and 26 females. All but 5 of the 65 dogs weighed more than 16 kg. Sixty-two of the osteosarcomas arose from the limbs and 3 from the ribs. The median duration of presurgical clinical signs was 6 weeks, with a range of 1 day to 24 weeks. There were no statistical correlations between the postsurigical survival times and the age, sex, or breed of the dog, the site of the osteosarcoma, or the duration of the presurgical clinical signs. Of the 40 dogs with known lung metastases, 11 also had hypertrophic pulmonary osteoarthropathy. The median survival time was 18 weeks, with a range of 3 to greater than 578 weeks. Twenty-six percent were alive 6 months potoperatively, 13.8% were still alive at 9 months, and 10.7% survived more than 1 year. The total median duration of the disease was 24 weeks (range, 8 greater than 578 weeks).