Source
Gieger TL, Nolan MW, Gookin J, Watson VE. Treatment of feline lymphocytic lymphoma/chronic inflammatory enteropathy complex with low dose abdominal cavity radiation therapy. Vet Comp Oncol. 2025;23(4):549-557. doi:10.1111/vco.70007
Research Note
Feline chronic enteropathy (ie, GI disease of >3 weeks’ duration, excluding extra-GI or infectious intestinal disease) includes feline lymphocytic lymphoma (FLL), chronic inflammatory enteropathy (CIE), and food-responsive enteropathies. FLL and CIE have unknown etiopathologies but share similar clinical and diagnostic features. Chemotherapy is considered the treatment of choice for FLL but can be cost prohibitive or contraindicated in some patients.
One study describing treatment of feline lymphoblastic GI lymphoma using radiation therapy with chemotherapy demonstrated minimal adverse effects, as well as outcomes similar to multiagent chemotherapy.1 In the present study, radiation therapy of less aggressive FLL and CIE disease complexes was evaluated for potentially prolonged clinical benefits without significant adverse effects.
In this study, abdominal radiation therapy (2 Gy every 48 hours; total dose, 8 Gy) was administered to 14 cats (8, FLL; 6, CIE) with no previous history of corticosteroid or chemotherapy treatment; 1 cat was withdrawn after the second fraction per owner request due to lethargy and inappetence. Most cats tolerated treatment, although GI signs temporarily worsened in 9 cats. Nine cats experienced complete or partial remission for >340 days; 4 cats did not respond to treatment, including 1 that died from aspiration pneumonia after syringe feeding by the owner.
Study results suggested that low-dose radiation therapy may have utility in cats that have FLL or CIE, cannot tolerate corticosteroids, or are difficult to administer oral medication.
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