ACVIM: Oncology

All questions included on the examination are referenced from one or more items included on this list. The reference list is divided into categories to help make the list more manageable and to help you prioritize your study time. Please be aware, though, that the categories do not represent the proportionate use of the references when we wrote the examination.

Please note that we have included a short list of supplemental articles that the committee feels each candidate should read. The articles listed separately were suggested by oncologists throughout the college, and represent either older articles containing important information that is still relevant but not covered adequately in the more recent literature or textbooks, or seminal articles published in journals not included on the reading list. If you do not have access to one or more of the articles on the list, please contact the committee chair directly so that a copy may be provided to you while honoring copyright law. [You are welcome to request articles from the Veterinary Library, using ILLiad.]

Group 1 Textbooks
The following texts are essential to provide a detailed knowledge base in oncology.

  • DeVita: Cancer: principles and practice of oncology, 9th ed. (2011) — not available at Tufts, 8th ed. (2008) available online
  • Withrow and Vail: Veterinary clinical oncology, 5th ed. (2013) — not available at Tufts
  • Chabner and Longo: Cancer chemotherapy and biotherapy: principles and practice, 5th ed. (2011) — not available at Tufts
  • Tannock and Hill: The Basic science of oncology, 5th ed. (2013) — not available at Tufts
  • Abbas, Lichtman and Pillai: Cellular and molecular immunology, updated 7th ed. (2011), available online
  • Meuten: Tumors in domestic animals, 4th ed. (2002) — Vet Reserve Stacks SF 910 T8 T295 2002
  • Weinberg: The Biology of cancer, 2nd ed. (2013) — not available at Tufts

Group 2 Textbooks
The following texts have chapters or sections that have more detail and/or different perspectives on important topics that are also found elsewhere.

  • Kirk and Bonagura: Kirk’s current veterinary therapy XII, XIII and XIV. (1995, 2000, and 2008)… oncology related chapters — Vet Reserve Stacks SF 607 CU823
  • Feldman and Nelson: Canine and feline endocrinology and reproduction, 3rd ed. (2003)… endocrine neoplasia — Vet Reserve Stacks SF 768.3 F312c 2004
  • Cowell, Taylor and Meinkoth: Diagnostic cytology and hematology of the dog and cat, 3rd ed. (2007) — Vet Book Stacks SF 772.6 D536 2008; 4th ed (2014) Vet Reserve Stacks SF 772.6 D536 2014
  • Raskin and Meyer: Canine and feline cytology: a color atlas and interpretation guide 2nd ed. (2009) — Vet Reserve Stacks SF 991 A881 2010
  • Hall: Radiobiology for the radiologist, 7th ed. (2012)… excellent source for radiotherapy; easy to read with study questions for each chapter, available online
  • Ogilvie & Moore: Feline oncology. (2001) — Vet Reserve Stacks SF 986 T8 O34f 2001
  • Ogilive & Moore: Managing the canine cancer patient, a practical guide to compassionate care. (2006) — Vet Reserve Stacks SF 910 T8 O35 2006

Group 3 Textbooks
The following texts are resources for specialized information that is not available elsewhere, or contain information complementary to that in Group 1.

  • Veterinary clinics of North America – oncology related chapters (2000-present)
    • Veterinary Clinics of North America. Equine Practice, online 2002-, Vet Circulation Desk 2000-2001
    • Veterinary Clinics of North America. Exotic animal practice, online 2002-, Vet Circulation Desk 2000-2001
    • Veterinary Clinics of North America. Food Animal Practice, online 2002-, Vet Circulation Desk 2000-2001
    • Veterinary Clinics of North America. Small Animal Practice, online 2002-, Vet Circulation Desk 2000-2001
  • Latimer: Duncan and Prasse’s veterinary laboratory medicine: clinical pathology, 5th ed. (2011) — Vet Reserve Stacks SF 769 D911v 2011
  • Feldman, Zinkl and Jain: Schalm’s veterinary hematology, 6th ed. (2010)… excellent source for cytochemistry — Vet Reserve Stacks SF 771 S298v 2010
  • Norman and Streiner: Biostatistics the bare essentials, 2nd ed. (2000) — Vet Reserve Stacks WA 950 N842b 2000

Literature
Candidates are expected to have a good working knowledge of the veterinary cancer literature. Publications that contain material not yet available in textbooks are especially important. Each journal listed below should be reviewed for relevant articles from 2003 to the present. Both print and online journal versions should be reviewed:

Candidates are responsible for articles on veterinary oncology published in the human literature and review articles discussing major concepts in cancer biology and general therapeutic strategies. This list is not exhaustive.

Supplemental Reading List

  1. Bergman PJ, Camps-Palau MA, McKnight JA, et al. Development of a xenogeneic DNA vaccine program for canine malignant melanoma at the Animal Medical Center. Vaccine 2006; 24:4582-4585. article pdf
  2. Breen M, Modiano JF. Evolutionarily conserved cytogenetic changes in hematological malignancies of dogs and humans – man and his best friend share more than companionship. Chromosome Research 2008;16:145-154. article pdf
  3. Bryan JN, Keeler MR, Henry CJ, et al. A population study of neutering status as a risk factor for canine prostate cancer. Prostate 2007;67:1174-1181. article pdf
  4. Frazier DL, Price GS. Use of body surface area to calculate chemotherapeutic drug dose in dogs: II. Limitations imposed by pharmacokinetic factors. J Vet Intern Med 1998;12:272-278. article pdf
  5. Modiano JF. Ritt MG. Wojcieszyn J. The molecular basis of canine melanoma: pathogenesis and trends in diagnosis and therapy. J Vet Intern Med. 13(3):163-74, 1999. article pdf
  6. Mutsaers AJ, Mohammed SI, DeNicola DB, et al. Pretreatment tumor prostaglandin E2 concentration and cyclooxygenase-2 expression are not associated with the response of canine naturally occurring invasive urinary bladder cancer to cyclooxygenase inhibitor therapy. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids 2005;72:181-186. article pdf
  7. Nasir L, Devlin P, Mckevitt T, et al. Telomere lengths and telomerase activity in dog tissues: a potential model system to study human telomere and telomerase biology. Neoplasia 2001;3:351-359. article pdf
  8. Price GS, Frazier DL. Use of body surface area (BSA)-based dosages to calculate chemotherapeutic drug dose in dogs: I. Potential problems with current BSA formulae. J Vet Intern Med 1998;12:267-271. article pdf
  9. Rowell JL, McCarthy DO, Alvarez CE. Dog Models of naturally occurring cancer. Trends Mol Med. 2011 Jul;17(7):380-8. Epub 2011 Mar 24. article pdf
  10. Hanahan D, Weinberg RA. Hallmarks of cancer: the next generation. Cell. 2011 Mar 4;144(5):646-74. article pdf

This list is based on the 2014 reading list. This page was last updated May 2014.