Cancer frequently affects our veterinary patients and in recent years chemotherapy has become more commonly utilised treatment. General practices are increasingly prescribing and administering chemotherapy drugs. Chemotherapy drugs are toxic to cells (cytotoxic) interfering with the normal cell life cycle which results in cell death. Cancer cells are targeted by these drugs however they are not specific for cancer cells and healthy tissue can be affected. Chemotherapy drugs are also carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic and abortifacient. It is important that these drugs are handled safely. Personnel handling of chemotherapeutic drugs have been found to have increased risks of infertility, early pregnancy loss or urinary excretion of these drugs. This webinar will discuss the safety precautions necessary for handling chemotherapy agents and will focus on the recent consensus guidelines produced by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) in January 2018 to raise awareness of risks and how we can reduce the exposure within clinics. If time permits, common side effects (neutropaenia, thorombocytopaenia and gastrointestinal side effects) caused by chemotherapy will be explained as well as precautions for handling such patients.

Canine mast cell tumours are common in general practice. The diagnosis is usually straightforward by means of fine needle aspiration; however, management can be challenging due to the variable behaviour ranging from locally infiltrating lesions to aggressive mast cell tumours metastasising to the liver and spleen. As a consequence, outcomes range from weeks to years. The aim of the webinar is to focus on the use of prognostic factors to predict the behaviour of mast cell tumours and to guide management of each individual case. Once the extent of disease and likely prognosis has been established, a plethora of treatment options need to be considered including surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, palliative supportive care as sole or multi-modal therapy. Dogs with a good prognosis should be offered treatment options aimed at long term control, whereas the focus for dogs with a poor prognosis might need to be palliative. The second part of the webinar is focused on highlighting when to consider which treatment options.

As veterinary patients age, they are more susceptible to diseases and cancer. This webinar will cover the basic cancer biology, treatment options and palliative care...