Palliative radiation therapy.

Animal owners may be reluctant to have pets with incurable cancer subjected to euthanasia. Palliative radiation therapy may provide significant relief of pain in such pets. Palliative irradiation is comprised of a few radiation treatments, frequently given over a short time and using larger than normal fractional doses. Animals tolerate palliative irradiation well, and recent reports attest to the usefulness of palliative radiation to relieve discomfort associated with both skeletal and extraskeletal tumors. Although there is more to learn regarding the response of canine and feline tumors to palliative irradiation, it is a proven modality for relief of pain in many incurable cancer patients.