Abstract
Mammary gland tumors are the most common neoplasms occurring in female dogs. The treatments of mammary gland tumors are surgery, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy and radiational therapy, but surgical removal remains widely accepted treatment option for mammary gland tumors. The purpose of this study is to evaluate clinical outcomes of dogs which are performed surgical excision. Medical records were reviewed for dogs(79 cases) with mammary gland tumors treated surgically at Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital in Seoul National University from 2001 to 2005. While 49 cases(62.0%) were benign, 30 cases(38.0%) were malignant tumors. The mean age of these dogs was 10.4 years old(range $1{\sim}16$ years). The maximal diameter of malignant tumors were various, whereas most of the benign tumors were smaller than 3cm(36 cases, 73.5%). In 12 cases(15.2%), regional lymph nodes were enlarged and lymph nodes of 3 cases had resected surgically. The performed techniques were total mastectomy, regional mastectomy, simple mastectomy, lumpectomy and unilateral mastectomy in order. Twenty-eight cases(35.4%) had postoperative complications consisted of recurrence of tumors, necrosis, dehiscence, delayed healing and edema of limbs. The recurrence rates of benign and malignant mammary gland tumors were 8 cases(16.3%) and 6 cases(20.0%). Metastasis rate was 7 cases(8.9%). Although postoperative complications were no remarkable difference in recurrence rates among surgical techniques in this study, other complications such as edema of limbs, necrosis, dehiscence and delayed healing were remarkable difference as surgical techniques. Therefore, this result suggest that choice of appropriate surgical techniques should be determined according to each patient's physical status and characteristics of tumors.
