Oncology

Medical Oncology Department at Lakeshore Animal Health Partners in Mississauga

Approximately 1 in 5 cats and 1 in 4 dogs will develop cancer. As cancers become increasingly prevalent, more therapies and options have become available for our pets to ensure we can provide them the best quality of life for as long as possible.

When we treat patients with chemotherapy or medical therapy, this is performed by a medical oncologist. Radiation therapy or surgery are provided by radiation oncologists and veterinary surgeons or surgical oncologists. At Lakeshore Animal Health Partners, our board-certified medical oncologists can provide medical treatment for your pet’s cancer and assist with an internal referral for surgical procedures or an external referral for radiation therapy. Our Oncology Department works closely with all the offered services at Lakeshore Animal Health Partners to ensure your pet is provided with the most optimal cancer care available.

Lakeshore Animal Health Partners provides state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging for our cancer patients, including ultrasound, a 32-slice CT scan, lymphangiography, and a 3T MRI. These modalities may be used alone or in combination for diagnosing or monitoring patients with cancer. Our hospital can provide a separate chemotherapy delivery suite that ensures your pet is in a calm and quiet environment during their care. A spacious room is provided after recovery from any diagnostic procedures. The BD Phaseal system is also utilized as a closed-chemotherapy delivery system to ensure our patients and our staff are not at risk of exposure. We also provide both bisphosphonate and immunotherapy with the melanoma vaccine at our hospital.

We are proud to offer a research platform and strongly believe in the comparative oncology model. That is, our pets develop many of the same cancers as we do, while both behaviourally and genetically appearing so similar that they may help us find cures for other dogs and cats or even people with cancer. Our hospital has developed a research platform with active and ongoing clinical trials or research studies that your pet may be considered a part of in coordination with other human and veterinary academic hospitals. Some studies may provide financial or treatment incentives not available elsewhere. You may ask at any time about the available clinical research studies or tumour banking options that may help other pets or people with cancer.

Medical Oncology Services

• Internal and dedicated specialty consultation with a board-certified oncologist
• Telehealth consultations with a board-certified oncologist
• Administration of systemic cancer treatments:
  • Chemotherapy
  • Immunotherapy (i.e., melanoma vaccine)
  • Bisphosphonates
• A collaborative and informed approach to diagnostic and treatment decision making
• Discussion for palliative care or active quality of life disease monitoring
• Oncology research platform
  • Active clinical trial platform in coordination with human and veterinary academic hospitals
  • Coordination with academic and private tumour bank

Common Reasons for Consultation

• Diagnosis and staging of any cancer
• Discussion of all available treatment options specifically catered to your pet’s cancer diagnosis
• Discussion of prognosis related to your pet’s diagnosis
• Chemotherapy treatment and management of any associated side effects
• Palliative care and quality of life discussion and management
• Post-surgical recommendations after a diagnosis of cancer

Active and Ongoing Research Activities (2023):

• Utility and feasibility of mobile device photogrammetry to accurately determine tumour dimensions in dogs with oral tumours, a pilot study
  • Participating centers: Lakeshore Animal Health Partners, University of Guelph
• The use of AI and CT image features to predict sentinel lymph node metastasis in dogs with oral tumours
  • Information Link
  • Participating centers:
    • Lakeshore Animal Health Partners
    • Sunnybrook Research Institute
    • University of Guelph
• Exploration of Nanoparticle-Enabled Image-Guided Photoablation in Veterinary Patients
  • Information Link
  • Participating Centers:
    • University of Guelph
  • This study may include baseline imaging at Lakeshore Animal Health Partners but will require referral to the University of Guelph for treatment through the OVC Clinical Trials Department
• Evaluation of Sentinel Lymph Node Mapping in Dogs with Lung Tumours using CT Lymphography and Intraoperative Indocyanine Green
  • Information Link
  • Participating Centers:
    • University of Guelph
  • This study will include baseline imaging at Lakeshore Animal Health Partners but will require referral to the University of Guelph for treatment through the OVC Clinical Trials Department