Cancer frequently affects our veterinary patients and in recent years chemotherapy has become more commonly utilised treatment. General practices are increasingly prescribing and administering chemotherapy drugs. Chemotherapy drugs are toxic to cells (cytotoxic) interfering with the normal cell life cycle which results in cell death. Cancer cells are targeted by these drugs however they are not specific for cancer cells and healthy tissue can be affected. Chemotherapy drugs are also carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic and abortifacient. It is important that these drugs are handled safely. Personnel handling of chemotherapeutic drugs have been found to have increased risks of infertility, early pregnancy loss or urinary excretion of these drugs. This webinar will discuss the safety precautions necessary for handling chemotherapy agents and will focus on the recent consensus guidelines produced by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) in January 2018 to raise awareness of risks and how we can reduce the exposure within clinics. If time permits, common side effects (neutropaenia, thorombocytopaenia and gastrointestinal side effects) caused by chemotherapy will be explained as well as precautions for handling such patients.

Vets in general practice often contact me looking for practical advice managing canine and feline lymphoma patients in house. It’s a disease that is seen often and, while there are guiding principles, every patient presents slightly differently and responds to treatment individually. In this lecture we’ll aim to cover the common diagnostic and treatment challenges and provide a good base for improving your confidence in approaching these patients. We’ll discuss standard diagnostic techniques and options for when the diagnosis is difficult to achieve. As we move to discussing clinical staging and treatment we’ll cover the options for several different anatomical locations and histopathological subtypes. We’ll review practical tips for chemotherapy administration including a review of the common chemotherapy agents used in treating canine and feline lymphoma and what to do when things don’t go according to plan. We’ll cover what’s new and what’s evolving in the management of canine lymphoma with a focus on what’s practical and relevant for you.

Cancer can do anything..... Paraneoplastic syndrome are symptoms that occur at sites distant from a tumour or its metastasis. During this seminar, we will explore the categories of paraneoplastic syndromes and explain the mechanisms of those where it is elucidated. We will look at the comparative aspect of paraneoplastic syndrome in human medicine.