Clinical management of cutaneous hemangiosarcoma in canines: a review of five cases

Hemangiosarcoma is a type of malignant vascular tumour that commonly affects the canines and has a very poor prognosis. Five dogs affected with cutaneous hemangiosarcoma were presented to Referral Veterinary Polyclinic, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, over a 6-month period. All of the cases were subjected to thoracic radiography and intra-abdominal ultrasonography to rule out metastasis. The tumour mass was surgically excised in all the five animals. The cases were diagnosed as hemangiosarcoma on the basis of histopathology and immunohistochemistry. Two of the animals received chemotherapy using either vincristine or doxorubicin after surgical excision. The post-operative survival period was found to be slightly higher in the cases that received combined surgical excision and chemotherapy. The main aim of managing such cases should be to prolong the life of the animal by combining various treatment modalities like surgical excision, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and radiation therapy. This paper concludes that the combined use of surgical excision and chemotherapy can be superior to surgical excision alone in prolonging the life of dogs suffering from a cutaneous form of hemangiosarcoma.