Oncology Services - Melbourne Veterinary Specialist Centre

$Oncology photo gallery photos (Sam Horton's folder)\Dr Laura Brockley and Dr Maureen Cooper providing treatment$ The diagnosis of cancer in your pet can be a frightening experience. The Oncology team at the Melbourne Veterinary Specialist Centre is here to help you through this difficult time.

Melbourne Veterinary Cancer Care is the centre within MVSC that manages and co-ordinates a veterinary healthcare team for the optimum care of a pet with cancer. This is co-ordinated once a diagnosis is made and the owners indicate they will consider treatment or palliation.

As oncology patients rarely require a single service, we offer combined medical and surgical oncology onsite with full internal medicine support. We are the only centre in Victoria that has this multidisciplinary approach available, allowing us to offer the best care to our cancer patients.

We also have access to the full range of diagnostic and therapeutic options that are needed. We have Melbourne's only onsite veterinary MRI, which is the best tool for investigating the local extent of tumour spread.

The role of the medical oncologist is not just to give chemotherapy. It is to co-ordinate the management of the cancer patient. Our team is trained in the staging, assessment of general health, palliative care, and administration of chemotherapy. Once the patient has been fully assessed, we have the benefit of being able to discuss the case directly with the specialist surgery team should surgery be required.

In many cases both the medical and surgical teams will have a large input into the management of care. The surgeon's role is in assessing the patient for surgery, performing the surgery, and taking care of the postoperative care. In many cases the medical team then takes over for adjunctive care; most often chemotherapy.

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Dr Peter Bennett is the only registered specialist veterinary medical oncologist in Victoria and offers clients a range of options for treating their pet’s cancer. The Oncology Department works closely with the Surgery Department, particularly Dr Simon Kudnig who is a Specialist Surgeon and a Fellow in Surgical Oncology, to provide comprehensive treatment for pets with cancer.

The demand for veterinary oncology in recent times has seen the Department's workload increase significantly. Dr Maureen Cooper is our Oncology Registrar and Dr Laura Brockley is our Resident in Oncology.

Dr Peter Bennett
BVSc, FACVSc (Canine Medicine), Dip ACVIM (Small Animal Medicine, Oncology)

Dr Peter Bennett practices as a Specialist in both Internal Medicine and Oncology. Dr Bennett graduated from The University of Melbourne in 1982 and subsequently worked in private practice in Melbourne and the UK. While in private practice, Dr Bennett commenced the long journey to specialisation with stints at the universities of Tennessee, Georgia, Melbourne, and Massey (NZ). Dr Bennett obtained Fellowship of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists in 1999 and Diplomate status in Small Animal Internal Medicine from the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM). He pursued further specialisation in oncology when he joined the faculty at Purdue University (Indiana), USA, in the Comparative Oncology Program, where he ran the Clinical Department. He also obtained Diplomate status in Oncology from ACVIM in 2001. Dr Bennett has presented at numerous seminars both nationally and internationally, and is involved in teaching of veterinary medicine as an Associate Academic at the University of Sydney, a Senior Fellow at The University of Melbourne, and as an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at Massey University, New Zealand.

Dr Maureen Cooper
DVM, MACVSc (Small Animal Medicine)

Dr Maureen Cooper, originally from Canada, obtained her veterinary training at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. After completing a combined Medicine/Surgery internship at Purdue University (Indiana), USA, Dr Cooper spent time in a mixture of general and referral practice in New York. Dr Cooper has completed her residency in Veterinary Oncology under the direct supervision of Dr Peter Bennett, with support from Dr Darren Merrett, Dr Rob Labuc, and Dr Peter Laverty. In her first year in Australia, prior to her appointment at MVSC, she worked throughout Melbourne as a locum veterinarian. Dr Cooper hopes to achieve Fellowship of the Australian College in Veterinary Oncology.To view a list of Dr Cooper’s published scientific, peer reviewed articles click here.

Dr Laura Brockley
BVSc MACVSc

Dr Laura Brockley graduated from The University of Melbourne with a Bachelor in Veterinary Science with honours in 2001. Dr Brockley has worked in a variety of small and mixed practices in Victoria, NSW, and the UK. She joined Melbourne Veterinary Specialist Centre in 2008 as an Oncology Intern. Dr Brockley achieved membership of the Small Animal Medicine chapter of the ACVS (Australian College of Veterinary Scientists) in 2009. Dr Brockley works under the direct supervision of MVSC Oncology Specialist, Dr Peter Bennett.

For more Specialist profiles click here.

For nurse profiles click here.

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The Melbourne Veterinary Specialist Centre oncology therapies range from oral medicines to injected chemotherapy. The type of treatment is decided upon depending on the type of cancer present and the wishes of the pet owner. Diagnostic procedures include fine needle biopsy, bone marrow testing, radiography, ultrasonography, MRI, and laboratory testing.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is an important component of cancer management with many tumours showing benefit from its use. It is not only beneficial in lymphoma, where it has been most widely used, but a wide range of tumours including sarcomas, carcinoma, mast cell tumours, and other round cell tumours. Many of these tumours can have significantly better outcomes with chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy is not a matter of following a recipe. Each case needs to be individually assessed and the treatments tailored depending on the response and tolerance. With Dr Peter Bennett's experience and knowledge, more aggressive treatments are possible without significantly increasing the risk of toxicities.

As well as assessing the patients for their cancer and its effects, all patients are assessed for concurrent health conditions that might affect the treatment by the appropriate member of the team. In some cases these additional problems require treatment to improve the patient's tolerance to the cancer therapy. This assessment can make the difference in obtaining a successful treatment of a patient’s cancer.

The introduction of a safe ‘closed circuit’ administration system called ‘Phaseal’ [used in human hospitals] means that chemotherapy drugs can be made on our premises at reduced cost to clients and with increased safety to our oncology patients and staff.

In conjunction with our Surgery Department, we can also place subcutaneous venous access ports that allow safe delivery of long-term chemotherapy. They are particularly useful in fractious animals and animals with poor venous access, and are commonly used for administering chemotherapy to young children.