Clinical characteristics of doxorubicin-associated alopecia in 28 dogs.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Chemotherapy-induced alopecia (CIA) is common in humans, but there are limited reports describing the clinical features of CIA in dogs. OBJECTIVES: To describe the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of doxorubicin-associated alopecia (DAA) in canine patients at a teaching hospital from 2012 to 2014. ANIMALS Signalment, diagnosis, treatment protocols and clinical examination findings were recorded in 150 dogs treated with doxorubicin from 2012 to 2014. METHODS: Medical records were searched retrospectively for the keywords "alopecia" and "hypotrichosis." Dogs were excluded if the causal link of hair loss was unclear. RESULTS: Doxorubicin-associated alopecia was reported in 28 of 150 dogs (19%). Two parameters were statistically associated with the development of DAA coat-type and cumulative doxorubicin dose. Dogs with curly or wire-haired coat-type were significantly more likely to develop DAA than dogs with straight-haired coat-type [χ2 (1, N = 147) = 30, P < 0.0001]. After adjusting for sex, weight and doxorubicin dose, the odds of dogs with curly or wire-haired coat-type developing DAA were 22 times higher than those with straight-haired coat-type (P < 0.0001). Dogs that developed DAA received a significantly higher median cumulative doxorubicin dose (103.0 versus 84.5 mg/m2 ; P = 0.0039) than those that did not develop DAA. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE Dogs treated with doxorubicin may be at risk for developing DAA. This risk increases as the cumulative dose of doxorubicin increases, and with a curly or wire-haired coat-type.