AAHA Oncology Guidelines for Dogs and Cats

Primary care veterinarians may diagnose, stage, and treat many canine and feline cancers while providing comprehensive patient health care in their practices. Collaboration between general practitioners and veterinary oncologists can optimize patient care and enhance client engagement, and referral is often necessary, especially in complex cases. These guidelines cover key fundamentals of, and new developments in, cancer diagnosis, staging, and treatment in dogs and cats, including patient supportive care and follow-up assessments. Therapy is based on identifying the tumor type, grade, and stage by using cytologic or histologic evaluation or both, combined with staging diagnostic testing such as imaging and lymph node sampling. Therapy is most often multimodal and may include chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery, along with nutritional support and pain management. Methods to protect patient, team, and client safety as related to handling cytotoxic chemotherapeutics are emphasized. In addition, strengthening the training, education, and responsibilities of veterinary technicians is encouraged to promote team engagement and practice efficiency, which is highly beneficial when managing complex cancer cases. These guidelines also highlight how to achieve successful collaboration between all members of primary care and referral practice teams, cover tools that can aid in referral to or consultation with veterinary oncologists, and describe communication skills that enhance client understanding and compliance.