Desmopressin in canine mammary carcinoma: Comments on the importance of the administration route

ALONSO, DANIEL F.; TURIC, ESTEBAN; GARONA, JUAN

VETERINARY AND COMPARATIVE ONCOLOGY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Año: 2021 vol. 19 p. 409 - 410

1476-5810

Several years ago, we proposed the haemostatic peptide desmopressin (1-desamino-8-D-arginine vasopressin; dDAVP) as a potential anti-metastatic agent to be used during surgical excision of locally advanced tumours. A prospective randomized study in 28 intact dogs with mammary carcinomas receiving perioperative intravenous dDAVP infusions (1 μg/kg) demonstrated a significant survival benefit in dogs with moderately (grade 2) or poorly differentiated (grade 3)tumours.1 dDAVP is known to exert anti-proliferative and anti-angiogenic effects in laboratory models, by acting on AVPR2 vasopressin receptors present in tumour and endothelial cells. Moreover, dDAVP can induce the release of von Willebrand factor (VWF) from microvascular endothelium into blood circulation. Beyond its critical function in primary haemostasis, VWF plays aprotective role against metastatic dissemination. An abrupt increase in VWF blood levels is able to interfere with the arrest of circulating cancer cells at target organs and also to induce apoptosis in micrometastatic foci.