Cancer patients are prone to developing infections after chemotherapy treatment, and this has been primarily attributed to myelosuppression. Neutrophil dysfunction has been reported as a consequence of chemotherapy in humans; however, no data have addressed this in canine patients.
This study’s objective was to assess neutrophil function in dogs with lymphoma receiving chemotherapeutic drugs and to compare results to healthy, untreated control dogs. Flow cytometric techniques were used to assess neutrophil oxidative burst and phagocytic activities at baseline, 7 days, and 21 days after induction chemotherapy in 20 dogs with lymphoma, and also in 11 healthy dogs. Results suggested that induction chemotherapy suppressed the percentage of neutrophils capable of oxidative burst in dogs with lymphoma, and that phagocytic activity improves over time. The authors concluded that neutrophil dysfunction’s impact on the incidence and severity of sepsis in dogs receiving chemotherapy should be investigated.