Metronomic chemotherapy in mammary gland carcinomas of bitches and therapy validation

• Grant number: 13/07252-5
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: July 01, 2013
• End date: June 30, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Clinics and Surgery
• Principal Investigator: Alexandre Lima de Andrade
• Grantee: Alexandre Lima de Andrade
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária (FMVA). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araçatuba. Araçatuba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The canine mammary tumor (CMT) is the neoplasm that most commonly affects older bitches not spayed. According to the histopathological analysis, 41-53% of CMTs are malignant. Therapy for breast cancer in dogs is a challenge and surgical removal remains the technique of choice. Although adjuvant chemotherapy is the standard treatment for breast tumor in humans, little information exists on their effectiveness in CMT. Conventional chemotherapy using the maximum tolerable dose mechanism of action is to inhibit tumor angiogenesis, but the adverse effects on healthy tissues such as bone marrow makes them carried long intervals between doses inhibiting the passenger benefits of the anti-angiogenesis chemotherapy. Thus, a new concept of chemotherapy using continuous low-dose chemotherapy, with fewer adverse effects and no interval between cycles has been used and is called metronomic chemotherapy. It has been suggested that the quantification of angiogenesis may help predict how the cancer will progress or if that tumor will respond to treatment. The mammary tumors express many angiogenic factors, including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Tissue expression of VEGF in malignant TMC is increased and is related to reduced response to therapy. Several researchers have proposed the quantification of some aspects of tumor vasculature as microvascular density (MVD) for the evaluation of antiangiogenic therapy. MDV reveals the degree of angiogenic activity of the neoplasm, which can be used as a marker for the efficacy of anti-angiogenic agents, and also selects patients who are candidates for therapy. This research aims to carry out treatment in dogs with malignant TMC using metronomic chemotherapy and validate the effectiveness of this therapy for performing immunostainings tissue VEGF and MVD in addition to the histopathological evaluation and comparison between treated and untreated tumors. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

MENDES FERRARI, ANALY RAMOS; FERRARI, HEITOR FLAVIO; CARREIRA, VINICIUS SOARES; FRIGERIO, EDENILSON DONA; RUI LUVIZOTTO, MARIA CECILIA; DE ANDRADE, ALEXANDRE LIMA. Microvessel density assessment in canine mammary carcinomas as a predictive factor for metronomic chemotherapy. SEMINA-CIENCIAS AGRARIAS, v. 40, n. 5, p. 1849-1855, SEP-OCT 2019. (13/07252-5)