For pet owners, a cancer diagnosis can be scary. But chemotherapy medications can help alleviate some of that fear, a new study suggests.

A retrospective study, conducted by researchers at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and Kansas State University, found that vinorelbine, a chemotherapy medication, is effective in treating several types of malignant tumors in dogs.

The study was published June 1 in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

The researchers reviewed the medical records of 58 dogs with malignant tumors treated with vinorelbine from December 1997 to December 2012. Tumors included pulmonary carcinoma, histiocytic sarcoma, mast cell tumor, lymphoma, melanoma, and seven other tumor types.

Vinorelbine was administered to 76% of the dogs with varying degrees of positive responses. Of the remaining 24%, the clinical benefit was more difficult to assess.

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