ACVS Founding Fellow of Surgical Oncology
ACVS Founding Fellow of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery

Dr Sarah Boston graduated from the Western College of Veterinary. She completed a small animal rotating internship at the University of Guelph the following year. She then returned to Western Canada for 3 years of general practice before going to the University of Guelph for a residency and DVSc in small animal surgery. She became board-certified with the American College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2004. Sarah then completed a Fellowship in Surgical Oncology at Colorado State University in 2005. She is an ACVS Founding Fellow of both Surgical Oncology and Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery. She was on faculty at the University of Guelph for 5 years before moving to the University of Florida where she was an Associate Professor of Surgical Oncology. Dr Boston joined the VCA family in February, 2018, where she started the Surgical Oncology Service at 404 Veterinary Emergency & Referral in Newmarket. She is Adjunct Faculty at the University of Guelph.

Dr Boston is Past-President of Veterinary Society of Surgical Oncology and has authored numerous journal articles and textbook chapters on surgical oncology. Sarah is also a published author and cancer survivor. Her first book Lucky Dog: How Being a Veterinarian Saved my Life, was published by the House of Anansi Press in 2014. In her spare time, she enjoys writing and stand up comedy, as well as spending time with her husband, Steve, her dog, Rumble and her cat Romeow.

Education

• DVM, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, Saskatoon, SK 1996
• DVSc, Ontario Veterinary College, Guelph, ON 2003

Advanced Clinical Training

• Small Animal Rotating Internship, University of Guelph 1996-1997
• Small Animal Surgery Residency, University of Guelph 2000-2003
• Post-doctoral Fellowship in Surgical Oncology
o Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA 2004-2005
• ACVS Founding Fellow of Surgical Oncology 2012
• ACVS Founding Fellow of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery 2019

Areas of Special Interest
Dr Boston’s interests include all aspects of Surgical Oncology, including osteosarcoma in dogs, limb salvage, sarcomas, oral tumours, mast cell tumours, anal sac adenocarcinomas.

Select Recent Publications
Boston SE, van Stee LL, Bacon NJ, Szentimrey D, Kirby BM, van Nimwegen S,
Wavreille VA. Outcomes of eight cats with oral neoplasia treated with radical
mandibulectomy. Vet Surg. 2020 Jan;49(1):222-232. doi: 10.1111/vsu.13341. Epub 2019 Nov 18. PubMed PMID: 31738456.

Oramas A, Boston SE, Skinner OT. Iliectomy with limb preservation for a dog
with ilial osteosarcoma: Surgical description and case report. Vet Surg. 2019 Oct
12. doi: 10.1111/vsu.13329. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 31605496.

Skinner OT, Boston SE, Maxwell PL. Interventions and experience after
complicated total cystectomy in a dog with transitional cell carcinoma. Vet Surg.
2019 Oct 10. doi: 10.1111/vsu.13330. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 31602683.

Boylan MT, Boston SE, Townsend S, Cavalcanti JVJ. Limb-shortening limb salvage (LSLS) in a cat with metatarsal osteosarcoma. Can Vet J. 2019 Jul;60(7):757-761. PubMed PMID: 31281194; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6563893.

Liptak JM, Boston SE. Nonselective Lymph Node Dissection and Sentinel Lymph
Node Mapping and Biopsy. Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract. 2019
Sep;49(5):793-807. doi: 10.1016/j.cvsm.2019.04.003. Epub 2019 May 27. Review. PubMed PMID: 31147188.

Mayhew PD, Boston SE, Zwingenberger AL, Giuffrida MA, Runge JJ, Holt DE,
Raleigh JS, Singh A, Culp WTN, Case JB, Steffey MA, Balsa IM. Perioperative
morbidity and mortality in dogs with invasive adrenal neoplasms treated by
adrenalectomy and cavotomy. Vet Surg. 2019 Jul;48(5):742-750. doi:
10.1111/vsu.13221. Epub 2019 Apr 29. PubMed PMID: 31034643.

Mejia S, Boston SE, Skinner OT. Sartorius muscle flap for body wall
reconstruction: Surgical technique description and retrospective case series. Can
Vet J. 2018 Nov;59(11):1187-1194. PubMed PMID: 30410175; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6190146.

Skinner OT, Boston SE, Giglio RF, Whitley EM, Colee JC, Porter EG. Diagnostic
accuracy of contrast-enhanced computed tomography for assessment of mandibular and medial retropharyngeal lymph node metastasis in dogs with oral and nasal cancer. Vet Comp Oncol. 2018 Jul 10.

Boston SE and Skinner O. Limb Shortening Limb Salvage for Canine Appendicular Osteosarcoma of the Distal Radius: Case Report and Description of Novel Surgical Technique. Veterinary Surgery 2018 Jan;47(1):136-145.

van Stee LL, Boston SE, Teske E, Meij BP. Compartmental resection of peripheral nerve sheath tumours with limb preservation in 16 dogs (1995-2011). Vet J. 2017 Aug;226:40-45. doi: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2017.07.002. Epub 2017 Jul 25

Boston SE, Vinayak A, Lu X, Larue S, Bacon NJ, Bleedhorn JA, Souza CHM,
Ehrhart NP. Outcome and Complications in Dogs with Appendicular Primary Bone Tumors Treated with Stereotactic Radiotherapy and Concurrent Surgical Stabilization. Vet Surg May 2017, Early View, DOI: 10.1111/vsu.12669

Talbott JL, Boston SE, Milner RJ, Lejeune A, Souza CHM, Kow K, Bacon NJ, Hernandez JA. Diagnostic Utility of Whole Body Computed Tomography for the Detection of Metastases in Dogs with Appendicular Osteosarcoma. Vet Surg 46(1):75-80, Jan 2017.

Skinner O, Boston SE, Souza C. Patterns of lymph node metastasis identified following bilateral mandibular and medial retropharyngeal lymphadenectomy in 31 dogs with malignancies of the head. Vet Comp Oncol. 2016 May 16. doi:10.1111/vco.12229. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 27196324.

Randall T, Boston SE, Kubicek L, Griffin L. Pubectomy and Stereotactic Radiotherapy for the Treatment of a Non-resectable Sacral Osteosarcoma Causing Pelvic Canal Obstruction in a Dog. Can Vet J. 2016 Sep;57(9):945-9. PMID: 27587885.

Patten SG, Boston SE, Monteith GJ. Outcome and prognostic factors for dogs with a histological diagnosis of splenic hematoma following splenectomy: 36 cases (2001-2013). Can Vet J. 2016 Aug;57(8):842-6. PubMed PMID: 27493283.

Wavreille V, Boston SE, Ham K, Guillaume C, Souza C, Rossetti D, Takacs J, Milner R. Outcome after pneumonectomy in 27 dogs and cats: A Veterinary Society of Surgical Oncology Retrospective Study. Vet Surg. 2016 Aug;45(6):782-9. doi:10.1111/vsu.12517. Epub 2016 Jul 11. PubMed PMID: 27399196.

Mitchell KE, Kung K, Dry S, Boston SE, Straw RC, Ehrhart, NP, Ryan SD. Outcomes of Limb-Sparing Surgery Using Two Generations of Metal Endoprosthesis in 45 Dogs With Distal Radial Osteosarcoma. A Veterinary Society of Surgical Oncology Retrospective Study. Vet Surg, 2016;45(1)36-43.

Green K and Boston SE. Bilateral removal of the mandibular and medial retropharyngeal lymph nodes through a single ventral midline incision for staging of head and neck cancers in dogs: a description of surgical technique. Vet Comp Oncol. 2015 Jun 3. doi: 10.1111/vco.12154. PubMed PMID: 26040551.

Oblak M and Boston SE. Ischiectomy with limb preservation in a dog with ischial chondrosarcoma: Case report and review of surgical technique. Vet Surg 2015 Jul;44(5):571-5.

van Stee L, Boston SE, Singh A, Romanelli G, Rubio-Guzman A, Scase T. Outcome and Prognostic Factors in Canine Splenic Lymphoma Treated with Splenectomy (1995-2011). Vet Surg 2015 Nov;44(8):976-82.