Etoposide (VP-16)

A retrospective analysis was performed of the effect of VP-16 (etoposide) in the treatment of 13 dogs with lymphoma. Twelve dogs had achieved partial (two) and complete (ten) responses to combination chemotherapy, but all were out of remission at the time of the trial. One dog had not previously had chemotherapy. There was minimal response to VP-16 chemotherapy in the 13 dogs studied, and only two of 13 dogs had some response to treatment. For one dog, complete and partial remission durations were one and three months, respectively. In another dog, there was partial remission of eight days. There were no responses in the other 11 dogs. The most serious adverse reaction after administration of VP-16 was an acute pruritic cutaneous reaction that occurred in 11 of the 13 dogs, which may have been associated with the vehicle of VP-16, polysorbate 80. Results showed that VP-16 has minimal activity for treatment of dogs with lymphoma that have experienced relapses after treatment with other anti-cancer drugs. More trials are needed with higher dosages and the oral form of the drug, which does not contain polysorbate 80.