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Lomustine is in the same Mustard class of drugs as Cytoxin. Lomustine is about a 30-40% effective in getting a dog back into remission. It can also cause severe bone marrow depression, which may take 2 weeks or more to recover.

I tried it for my Daisy, and not only did it severely depress her bone marrow, but I had to burn up the remaining doses of Elspar (i.e. usually good for 5-6 doses before the cancer develops resistance) to keep the cancer under control while waiting for the bone marrow to recover. It was a disaster for my dog, although the statistics indicate 3-4 out of 10 it will help get back into remission.

The other try was Mitoxantrone+Dacarbazine, where the Mitoxantrone is a similar but less effective analog of Doxorubicin without the cardiotoxicity, and Dacarbazine is suppose to help reverse or lessen any MDR which has developed or may interfer with the Mitoxantrone. That also did not work. The Dacarbazine did cause severe nausea (the only time Daisy had nausea from any of her Chemo), and Zofran had to be used to control it. If they mention the word Dacarbazine, then insist on pre-loading with Zofran.

If I were faced with the same decision today on a rescue therapy I would inquire about the DMAC protocol. See the following link:

www.vin.com/proceedings/P...&O=Generic

In addition I would ask the Oncologist about the use of 9-aminocamptothecin as a follow up maintenance agent. If they are unfamiliar with this drug being used in canine lymphoma refer them to: Veterinary and Comparative Oncology, 1, 2, 8693. Both the cytosine arabinoside and the 9-aminocampthothecin are not affected by the p-glycoprotein pump associated with MDR. It's unclear if the MDR resistance is present and it's quite possible given the history of your dog's treatment, that Vincristine might still be effective. One of my local Vets made the claim that 1/2 body radiation reset drug resistance back to zero. I've never been able to confirm this statement. If true, then you still have Vincristine as a valuable induction and/or maintenance drug.

One other comment in reading your website... ask for metoclopromide or Zofran to prevent nausea and anorexia during treatment. It's easier to prevent Chemo related nausea than to treat it after it occurs.