There are different types of canine cancer treatment options. Conventional treatments like surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy or a combination are given. The most common types of treatment are surgery, radiation and tumor killing drugs. The treatment depends upon the location of tumor, whether it has metastasized and its progress.

1. Surgery: Surgical excision is done when the tumor is small and easily accessible. The object is to remove the tumor completely and leave clean edges without cancer cells. Surgery could also be combined with radiation therapy or chemotherapy. Secondary tumors arising out of metastasis are also avoided by surgery. A tumor that is localized can usually be excised surgically. In cases where surgery is not possible radiation, biological, or chemical therapies are given. Laser surgery is more prevalent and has reduced recovery time too.

2. Radiation therapy: Radiation is used after the tumor is removed surgically and also to stop further growth of any cancer cells which might be missed out. Malignant tumors are exposed to high levels of radiation. Radiation works best on low-grade cancers, which are localized and metastasize late. Biological effects are produced when the radiation comes in contact with the atoms of the tissues of the dogs. In some cases canine cancer treatment by radiation therapy might prove advantageous than surgery particularly when the tumor has invaded widely and or if the general health of the dog is at a high risk of surgical complications. The chances of tumor getting destroyed are more if the tumor is widely exposed to high radiation. But in that process the chances of normal tissues getting destroyed are also higher. Fractionation helps reduce excessive complications in normal tissues. Treatment may be administered on daily, alternate days or twice-weekly. The dog is usually sedated or anesthetized during the treatment. Radiation also sterilizes the cancer cells and hence they are less likely to divide. The treatment is although not painful, has some side-effects which subside within two weeks time. In drug laser therapy, a drug is injected and then activated by a laser light.

3. Chemotherapy: Canine cancer treatment by chemotherapy attacks rapidly dividing cells. Chemotherapy in dogs is used to prolong life and not cure the cancer and hence lower doses are used. Hyperthermia treatment is also combined with chemotherapy which increases the effectiveness of the drugs to kill tumor cells. Certain drugs also act as radiosensitizers which result in the effectiveness of the radiation treatment. Chemotherapy uses different chemicals and drugs and attack rapidly growing cells in the body. Chemotherapy drugs target cancerous cells as they are typically rapidly growing. Cancers of the lymph system respond well to chemotherapy. Vets use the same drugs that are used for treating humans, but dogs do not generally suffer the side-effects.

4. Immunotherapy: In this type of canine cancer treatment drugs such as interferon are used to stimulate the dog.s immune system. This treatment has shown positive effects and also has improved the survival time in mast-cell tumors. Chemotherapy could be intravenous or oral.