Abstract
Objective—To evaluate the antitumor and toxic effects of treatment with doxorubicin combined with piroxicam or doxorubicin alone for multicentric lymphoma in dogs.
Design—Nonrandomized clinical trial.
Animals—75 dogs with multicentric lymphoma.
Procedure—33 dogs were treated with doxorubicin (30 mg/m2, IV, q 21 d, for 3 doses) and piroxicam (0.3 mg/kg [0.14 mg/lb], PO, q 24 h); results were compared with a historical control group of 42 dogs treated with doxorubicin (30 mg/m2, IV, q 21 d, for 3 doses) alone.
Results—The percentages of dogs that had remission with doxorubicin-piroxicam treatment (79%) or doxorubicin treatment alone (74%) were not significantly different. Median duration of first remission was 130 days with doxorubicin-piroxicam and 147 days with doxorubicin alone; these values were not significantly different. Severe toxicosis was observed in 22% of dogs treated with doxorubicin-piroxicam and 17% of dogs treated with doxorubicin alone.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Both treatment protocols were efficacious and well tolerated. The doxorubicin-piroxicam treatment was no more effective regarding response rate, remission duration, or survival duration, compared with the control group treated with doxorubicin alone. (J Am Vet Med Assoc 2002;220:1813–1817)