A dog owner has praised the specialist oncology team at a leading animal hospital in County Durham for prolonging the life of his precious pet.
Ben Dobson said his eight-year-old Beagle has defied the odds and survived a rare form of cancer for more than two years thanks to expert care at Linnaeus-owned Wear Referrals in Bradbury, near Sedgefield.
Ben and his wife Kerry, from Durham, were devastated when their beloved dog Arti was diagnosed with cutaneous lymphoma in April 2022 and feared she only had weeks to live.
Ben said: “We discovered a lump on her side in March 2022 and in that April, we were told it was a kind of cancer called cutaneous lymphoma. We were devastated and completely heartbroken.
“We were extremely concerned as the prognosis for cutaneous lymphoma is not good and many dogs do not survive more than six weeks from diagnosis.
“We did an online search which suggested that, even with treatment, the best we could hope for was another 12 months.
“But it has now been over two years since Arti’s initial diagnosis and she’s doing really well. She currently has no symptoms and has a great quality of life.
“Unfortunately, there is no cure, but there’s no doubt her treatment at Wear has given us much more time with Arti and extended the time for which she can have a good quality of life.”
Ben said Wear’s head of oncology, EBVS and RCVS specialist in small animal oncology, Aaron Harper, has been instrumental in guiding Arti and the family through the challenges of ongoing treatment - even amending the Beagle’s care to embrace cutting-edge electrochemotherapy.
Wear has a top-of-the-range Clinivet electrochemotherapy model and is the only veterinary referral centre in the North East with oncology specialists offering this pioneering treatment.
Ben added: “Initially, the lesions were treated surgically. This was successful but the recovery time was significant and she is not a young dog.
“As the number of lesions and frequency increased, surgery became unsustainable and Aaron recommended we try electrochemotherapy to locally treat the lesions while minimising side effects.
“This has been extremely successful, with very few side effects after each treatment and with many of Arti’s lesions being treated at the same time.
“We’re very grateful to Aaron and the Wear team. They have been great throughout, so caring and friendly, and we have been so happy with what they have done for Arti.”
Aaron is equally delighted with Arti’s progress and said it was further proof that Wear’s significant investment to introduce electrochemotherapy is benefiting patients.
He said: “The Clinivet electrochemotherapy machine significantly improves the scope of the oncology care we can provide to patients such as Arti.
“Lymphoma is a blood cancer which often affects lymph nodes and internal organs. However, Arti had an unusual form of the disease which only affects the skin and can form spots, lumps or ulcers.
“It can be challenging to treat as it often does not respond well to medications that we use to treat other forms of lymphoma.
“Arti’s condition was initially managed by surgically removing the lumps but this year she started to develop several lumps in her skin which were red and sore and were appearing too frequently to be surgically removed.
“After discussions with the owners, we opted to use electrochemotherapy instead. This works by passing a small electrical current through the tumour while the patient is asleep. “The electrical current temporarily forces the tumour to take up more chemotherapy, allowing a higher concentration to be achieved.
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“Specifically targeting the tumours in this way resulted in a dramatic response. Two sessions of electrochemotherapy allowed us to treat 11 masses in total and Arti is currently cancer-free and loving life.
“It’s a terrific result. Usually, we use electrochemotherapy for melanomas of the mouth, mast cell tumours and carcinomas but the success we have had for Arti’s lymphoma means we can now add this to the list, too.”
- Wear specialises in providing expert multidisciplinary care, including anaesthesia, cardiology, diagnostic imaging, intensive care, internal medicine, neurology, out-of-hours emergency and critical care, oncology, orthopaedics and soft tissue. To find out more about Wear Referrals, visit https://www.wear-referrals.co.uk or search for them on social media.
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