PetCure reaches 10,000 treated pets in radiation therapy milestone

CURRENT FULL VERSION: PetCure Oncology has crossed a new benchmark in veterinary cancer care, announcing on January 7, 2026 that it has treated 10,000 pets with radiation therapy since opening in 2015. In the company’s telling, the number reflects a larger shift in the market: stereotactic radiation, once concentrated mainly in academic settings, is becoming a more accessible referral option for general practitioners and specialty hospitals outside universities. (petcureoncology.com)

That framing fits the company’s own history. When PetCure launched its national stereotactic radiosurgery network in July 2015, it explicitly positioned itself against longstanding barriers in veterinary radiation oncology, including outdated equipment, high startup costs, and a shortage of qualified veterinary radiation oncologists. Those constraints have not disappeared, and the specialty still depends on highly trained teams and capital-intensive infrastructure. A 2024 review in Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice described stereotactic radiotherapy as a precise, dose-intense modality that requires special equipment and expertise, even as families and clinicians value its convenience and low acute toxicity. PetCure leaders have made the access problem even more concrete in recent commentary, noting that pet owners outside major population centers may live 8 to 10 hours from a radiation facility, a reality that helped drive development of stereotactic protocols deliverable in just a few days rather than over 3 to 4 weeks. (petcureoncology.com)

In its new announcement, PetCure said it now operates eight treatment centers nationwide and supports referrals through a clinical team that includes 12 board-certified oncologists and eight supervising veterinarians. The company said it is treating roughly 1,000 patients per year, which it characterized as among the highest volumes in the country. That represents a notable increase from its April 2024 milestone, when it reported more than 8,000 pets treated and described support for 11 programs nationwide under the Thrive Pet Healthcare umbrella. The newer release emphasizes treatment centers rather than programs, suggesting some organizational refinement as the network has matured. (petcureoncology.com)

The clinical value proposition remains consistent. PetCure’s model centers on stereotactic radiosurgery and stereotactic radiation therapy, which can often be completed in one to three fractions instead of the roughly 15 to 20 treatments associated with conventional fractionated radiation. That shorter course can reduce anesthesia exposure and compress treatment timelines, which matters both medically and practically for pet parents weighing referral. The broader literature supports that appeal: the 2024 review notes that common indications in veterinary oncology include nasal, brain, and bone tumors, and that families are drawn to the convenience and minimal acute toxicity of SRT. PetCure’s oncology leadership has similarly described abbreviated protocols as a practical response to limited specialist distribution, especially for families traveling long distances for care. (petcureoncology.com)

Industry commentary around PetCure’s growth has focused on access. In a Vet Advantage interview, chief medical officer Neal Mauldin said PetCure treats roughly 600 to 800 patients a year across its sites and expects that to rise as access expands. He also argued that stereotactic radiation has broadened the range of tumors considered reasonable radiation targets while lowering side effects and reducing the number of anesthetic events compared with conventional protocols. More recently, PetCure has also highlighted emerging technologies that could further widen the funnel, including compact, self-contained radiation units that may not require a dedicated vault and could potentially allow CT, treatment planning, and treatment delivery under a single anesthetic event, as well as a new advanced radiation platform slated for installation in Seattle through Thrive’s partnership with Empyrean Medical Systems. In its 2025 trends outlook, the company also pointed to several adjacent areas to watch: combining radiation with immunotherapy, including a planned study in cats with oral squamous cell carcinoma; low-dose radiation therapy for chronic inflammatory conditions such as feline cystitis, stomatitis, and osteoarthritis; and growing interest in low dose-rate radiation therapy for canine B-cell lymphoma, where it said two peer-reviewed papers have reported improved survival when the modality is incorporated into induction chemotherapy. (vet-advantage.com)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, this milestone is really about referral normalization. Cancer remains common in dogs and cats, but access to radiation oncology is still uneven, particularly outside major metro areas and academic centers. A larger national network, telehealth-supported consults, and shorter-course protocols can make radiation a more realistic conversation in first-opinion practice, especially for patients who are poor candidates for prolonged anesthesia or whose families cannot manage weeks of repeat visits. The company’s own forward-looking commentary also suggests radiation may be expanding beyond its traditional role, both through infrastructure that could lower access barriers and through new clinical applications in multimodal oncology and chronic inflammatory disease. At the same time, the growth of high-volume private networks raises the importance of careful case selection, clear communication with referring veterinarians, and more outcomes reporting so clinicians can distinguish where stereotactic approaches are most useful and where conventional or multimodal care remains the better fit. (petcureoncology.com)

What to watch: The next phase will likely hinge on three things: whether PetCure continues adding sites or technology partnerships, whether compact radiation systems truly lower infrastructure barriers in community settings, and whether the field produces more peer-reviewed comparative data to support earlier, more confident referrals. It is also worth watching whether some of the company’s projected growth areas begin to move from concept to routine use, particularly radiation-immunotherapy combinations, low-dose radiation for non-cancer inflammatory disease, and low dose-rate approaches in lymphoma. If those pieces come together, the practical meaning of 10,000 treated patients may be less about PetCure alone and more about radiation oncology becoming a routine part of the veterinary cancer care map. (petcureoncology.com)