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Multicenter Study
. 2025 Sep-Oct;39(5):e70220.
doi: 10.1111/jvim.70220.

A Multicenter, Retrospective Analysis of Long-Term Survival in 255 Dogs With Pheochromocytoma Treated With Alpha-Adrenoreceptor Antagonists or Surgery (2010-2021)

Matthew M E Steele  1   2 , Marit F van den Berg  3 , Sara Galac  3 , Ana M Dordio  4 , Anna Threlfall  4 , Cláudia Gomes  5   6 , Amanda Paul  5   7 , Mirja Nolff  8 , Nadja Sieber-Ruckstuhl  9 , Ghita Benchekroun  10 , Fergus Allerton  11 , Beatriz Mendoza  12 , Susanna Spence  12   13 , Paula Valiente  12   14 , Alisdair Boag  15 , Federico Fracassi  16 , Alejandra Carranza Valencia  17 , Jorge Pena-Ramos  18 , Ben Lloyd-Bradley  15   19 , Mayank Seth  19   20 , Jack Fawsitt  6 , Fang Yu Foo  5   6 , Romy M Heilmann  21 , Paolo Silverstrini  22   23 , Aurélie Lyssens  24 , Emilie Vangrinsven  24 , Clara Casas-Acuna  25 , Alenka Hrovat  25 , Carolina Arenas  26 , Mario Cervone  27 , Carmel T Mooney  28 , Rodolfo O Leal  29 , Karolina Maria Piekos  30 , Gerard Olivares  30 , Guillame Ruiz  31 , Sarah J Caulfield  2   32 , Sophie Keyte  32 , Anaïs Lamoureux  33 , Christopher J Scudder  2 , Ruth Gostelow  2
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

A Multicenter, Retrospective Analysis of Long-Term Survival in 255 Dogs With Pheochromocytoma Treated With Alpha-Adrenoreceptor Antagonists or Surgery (2010-2021)

Matthew M E Steele et al. J Vet Intern Med. 2025 Sep-Oct.

Abstract

Background: The survival of dogs with pheochromocytoma (PCC) treated with adrenoreceptor antagonists has not been described or compared to surgically managed cases.

Hypothesis/objectives: The objective of this study is to evaluate the survival of medically and surgically managed dogs with PCC and investigate factors associated with survival.

Animals: Two hundred fifty-five dogs with PCC, treated with alpha-adrenoreceptor antagonists (AA) without adrenalectomy (Group 1, n = 75), adrenalectomy +/- AA (Group 2, n = 128), or neither treatment (Group 3, n = 52).

Methods: Retrospective, multicenter review of medical records. Median overall survival time (OST) for Groups 1 and 2 combined was calculated using Kaplan-Meier estimates, and then compared between Group 1 and Group 2 using Log-Rank testing. Cox proportional hazard analysis identified factors associated with survival in Groups 1 and 2 individually and combined.

Results: Median OST for all cases was 854 (95% CI: 572-1136) days. Median OST was lower in Group 1 (247 days, 95% CI: 76-418 days) than in Group 2 (927 days, 95% CI: 587-1267 days; p < 0.001). In Group 2, 88/92 dogs (97.8%) that received presurgical AA treatment survived to discharge compared to 23/27 (85.2%) that did not receive AA pretreatment (p = 0.03). Lack of clinical signs at presentation was associated with increased survival in both groups combined (HR 0.5; 95% CI 0.3-0.9; p = 0.02) and in Group 2 alone (HR 0.3; 95% CI 0.1-0.7; p = 0.01).

Conclusions and clinical importance: Dogs with PCC treated with adrenalectomy have longer survival compared to those managed with AA without adrenalectomy.

Keywords: adrenal; adrenalectomy; endocrine; metanephrine; phenoxybenzamine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no off‐label use of antimicrobials.

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
STROBE diagram illustrating number of cases assessed for eligibility, and details of reasons for exclusion and division of groups used in the descriptive portion of the study as well as in survival analysis.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Kaplan–Meier estimate of overall survival for Group 1 (adrenoreceptor‐antagonist treated) and Group 2 (surgically treated) cases of dogs with PCC. Vertical ticks represent censoring, and vertical continuous lines represent events.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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