Canine Transitional Cell Carcinoma of the Bladder and Urethra : A Retrospective Study of 82 Cases (2004-2009)

Abstract

Eighty-two canine cases of transitional cell carcinoma of the lower urinary tract were retrospectively analyzed for breed, sex, site of occurrence, therapeutic modality, and prognosis. We found that increased risks were associated with female gender, Shetland sheepdogs, Beagles, and Shi Tzu dogs, as previously reported. The mean age of occurrence was 9.9 ± 0.3 years. Therapeutic modalities included piroxicam as a single agent or combinations of piroxicam and surgery, such as partial or complete cystectomy and urinary diversion. Therapeutic modalities were compared in terms of overall survival in 42 cases for which prognostic data were available. We found that the patients who received piroxicam and partial cystectomy, due to tumor occurrence at the bladder apex, had a significantly longer overall survival (P ＜ 0.05), indicating that surgery was beneficial, depending on tumor location.