PetCure Oncology says it has treated 10,000 radiation patients

PetCure Oncology has reached 10,000 radiation therapy patients treated since its 2015 launch, marking a notable milestone for one of the best-known private networks focused on veterinary stereotactic radiation. In a January 7, 2026, announcement, the Thrive Pet Healthcare affiliate positioned the figure as a measure of how far access has shifted in the past decade, when advanced stereotactic radiation was still concentrated largely at academic centers and unavailable to many referring veterinarians. (petcureoncology.com)

That framing fits the company’s origin story. PetCure was launched to build a national veterinary stereotactic radiosurgery network, borrowing from human oncology infrastructure at a time when private-practice access was sparse. Over the years, the company has steadily used milestone announcements to show growth, including its 8,000-patient mark in 2024. Industry coverage last year also highlighted PetCure’s 10th anniversary and reported that seven treatment centers and one standalone comprehensive cancer center were operating nationwide under Thrive. (fiercepharma.com)

In the new announcement, PetCure said it now operates eight treatment centers and supports referrals through a team of 12 board-certified oncologists and eight supervising veterinarians. Dr. Neal Mauldin, PetCure’s medical director and Thrive’s national director of radiation oncology, said the original goal was to make stereotactic-level care available beyond major academic programs. The company said it is treating roughly 1,000 patients per year, which it described as placing the network among the highest-volume veterinary radiation providers in the country. Its core clinical pitch remains the same: stereotactic radiosurgery and stereotactic radiation therapy can often be delivered in one to three sessions, reducing anesthetic events and compressing treatment timelines compared with conventional fractionated protocols. (petcureoncology.com)

PetCure’s broader messaging suggests the company sees access, not just technology, as the main differentiator. In a separate interview republished by PetCure and dvm360, Mauldin said there are only about 100 radiation oncologists in the world and described telehealth, remote treatment planning, and multidisciplinary coordination across hospitals as central to expanding specialty reach. PetCure has also published materials outlining telehealth-supported oncology consultations, reinforcing that its growth strategy depends on extending specialist input beyond the physical footprint of each radiation site. (petcureoncology.com)

The company is also still investing in platform expansion. In November 2025, Empyrean Medical Systems announced a partnership with Thrive Pet Healthcare to bring its Sirius advanced radiation platform to PetCure’s Seattle site, with an opening planned for early 2026. That suggests the 10,000-patient milestone is arriving alongside another phase of technology rollout rather than at a plateau. PetCure’s own 2025 trend report also pointed to continued interest in precision radiation, targeted therapies, and newer approaches such as low dose-rate radiation therapy for B-cell lymphoma, though those forward-looking items should be viewed as company perspective rather than independent consensus. (empyreanmed.com)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the bigger takeaway is that radiation oncology is becoming more practical as a referral option in private specialty networks, not just universities. That matters for case discussions with pet parents, especially when the perceived barriers are travel, repeated anesthesia, or uncertainty about where to send a patient. It also matters because the specialty workforce remains limited, making scalable models that combine on-site delivery with remote board-certified oversight increasingly relevant. At the same time, the milestone is a company-reported figure, and it doesn’t by itself answer harder questions about outcomes, affordability, case mix, or how access differs across regions and practice types. (petcureoncology.com)

What to watch: The next signals will be whether PetCure adds more markets, how the Seattle Sirius deployment performs once operational, and whether the company or outside groups publish stronger comparative data on outcomes, utilization, and referral patterns. For clinicians, the practical question is whether these network models continue to make radiation a realistic option earlier in the care conversation, rather than a last-resort referral available only to a small subset of pet parents. (empyreanmed.com)