Radiation therapy (RT) is the standard of care for canine nasal carcinoma, with median survival times (MSTs) ranging from 6 to 18 months depending on modality, stage, and systemic therapy combinations.AAHA Clinical G… Without treatment, the MST is 95 days, dropping to 88 days in dogs presenting with epistaxis.Veterinary Radi…

Staging drives prognosis before any treatment discussion. The modified Adams system is predictive of outcome across multiple studies, and cribriform plate erosion (Stage 4) carries a worse prognosis regardless of clinical signs.Veterinary Radi… Metastatic rates are 0–13% at diagnosis but rise to approximately 45% at necropsy, so three-view thoracic radiographs and regional lymph node cytology are part of the staging workup.Veterinary Radi…+1 CT or MRI is critical for treatment planning and for assessing cribriform plate integrity.Veterinary Clin…+1

Conventionally fractionated megavoltage RT produces MSTs of 10.5 to 21.4 months and remains a well-established approach for local disease control.Journal of the… Carcinomas tend to show better size reduction in response to RT than sarcomas, though this does not translate to a significant survival difference between histologic types.Journal of Vete…

Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) delivers curative-intent treatment in 3 fractions and produces MSTs within the range of conventionally fractionated RT. In one cohort treated with curative-intent SBRT, the MST was 388 days (12.9 months).Journal of the… Intensity-modulated RT (IMRT)-based stereotactic RT demonstrated clinical benefit in 88% of dogs with nasal carcinomas, with an MST of 563 days; severe acute adverse effects were absent, though 6 dogs developed Grade 3 late side effects.Veterinary Radi… Stereotactic RT in a larger cohort of dogs with nonlymphomatous sinonasal carcinoma yielded a disease-specific survival time of 482 days; 7% developed oro- or naso-cutaneous fistula, and 61% exhibited possible chronic rhinitis.Veterinary Radi… Brain invasion by the tumor is associated with shorter survival following SBRT.Journal of the…

Palliative RT is appropriate when curative intent is not the goal, improving quality of life and clinical signs with minimal treatment-associated morbidity.Veterinary Radi… Hypofractionated palliative protocols are less time-intensive and less expensive than definitive approaches, and the available evidence does not demonstrate a clear survival benefit from increasing fractionation within palliative-intent protocols.Veterinary Radi… Surgery or chemotherapy alone produces MSTs of only 3–6 months.AAHA Clinical G…

NSAIDs are a rational systemic addition given that COX-2 is expressed in 71–95% of canine nasal carcinomas.Veterinary Radi… Firocoxib combined with palliative RT did not significantly improve progression-free interval (228 days, RT + firocoxib vs. 234 days, RT + placebo) or overall survival (335 days vs. 244 days), but did significantly improve quality of life — specifically activity and appetite — compared to RT alone.Veterinary Radi… Lymph node involvement at presentation was significantly associated with both shorter progression-free interval and shorter overall survival (P = 0.004).Veterinary Radi… COX-2 expression level alone was not significantly associated with survival time after RT (P = 0.653).Journal of Vete…

Chemotherapy is used alongside RT or NSAIDs in a meaningful proportion of cases. The 2026 AAHA Oncology Guidelines list carboplatin, doxorubicin, and NSAIDs as palliative systemic options, with toceranib phosphate as an additional agent.AAHA Clinical G… RT alone produces an MST of approximately 6–18 months; adding NSAIDs with chemotherapy extends the MST to approximately 12 months; and combining IMRT, NSAIDs, and chemotherapy is associated with an MST of approximately 15–18 months.AAHA Clinical G… EGFR is expressed in 88.1% of canine nasal carcinomas, and dogs with low EGFR expression have significantly longer survival times than those with high expression (P = 0.043), suggesting EGFR may emerge as a therapeutic target.Journal of Vete…

Endoscopic debulking is a palliative option when RT is declined or unavailable. Endoscopic diode laser and forceps debulking produced an MST of 336 days with no major intraoperative or postoperative complications, and more than 50% clinical benefit was observed at 3 months post-procedure.Canadian Veteri…

Dental evaluation should precede RT — any necessary extractions should be completed 2–3 weeks before the start of radiotherapy to reduce the risk of osteoradionecrosis of the jaws, which is exacerbated by preexisting periodontal or endodontal disease and by extractions performed in a previously irradiated field.Journal of the…

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