UPDATE: July 6th, 2010. FDA Approves New Drug To Treat Mast Cell Cancer
UPDATE: July 6th, 2010. This page has received 80,000 views since its publication in March, 2010.
Canine cancer has many forms and awareness is the key to early detection which provides the best chance effective treatment or cure. The information and facts contained on this page constitutes a conveyance of information designed to raise awarness about canine cancer and shall not serve as medical advice.
One week could mean the difference between a mass the vet can remove and a mass the vet cannot remove. Time is of the utmost importance when it comes to suspicous masses.
Any mass that bleeds or any sore that won't heal is serious as this is a very strong indicator of malignancy and a potential route of infection.
Common forms of cancer include:
This is the most common form of canine cancer but it is often easier to diagnose than other cancers. Any dog with unusual swelling of the lymph nodes in the chest or groin should be taken immediately to a veterinarian. A sample of lymphatic tissues should be taken by fine needle and examined. While canine lymphoma is considered incurable in the long-term, chemotherapy can induce remissions of 1 year or longer in some cases.
This is another common form of canine cancer that has a reputation for being difficult to treat. Preliminary diagnosis can be performed by x-ray but confirmation must be obtained by a tissue sample taken with a fine needle.
This is a common form of canine cancer that is very rare in humans. Unfortunately, mast cell tumors can be very hard to diagnose until the tumor has already grown and spread. If your dog develops a sore that won't heal, or a sore that appears suddenly and has a raised or swollen appearance, take your dog to a veterinarian as quickly as possible. Don't wait even a week. Early on in their growth phase, mast cell tumors are easy to misdiagnose, but they are also curable by surgical removal if caught early enough. Any sore that won't heal, or any sore in which your dog takes a particular interest, should be examined by a veterinarian. Again, a needle aspirate tissue sample should be taken and examined. One problem with mast cell tumors is they are often surrounded by a halo of microscopic disease, and can be very difficult to remove completely. If your dog has a mast cell tumor, a consultation with a veterinary oncologist is extremely important as they are better equipped to perform an aggressive mass removal or to help you decide if chemotherapy or radiation might be better initial options.
Diagnosis is the foundation of medicine. Most doctors will tell you that it is almost impossible to engage effective treatment without a diagnosis. The same applies to our animal friends. If your dog or cat has a suspicious mass or growth that is not immediately life-threatening, ask your vet to diagnose the mass before surgery. Definitive diagnosis often involves taking tissue samples with a fine needle. Be absolutely sure that your veterinarian has the right experience and equipment to perform this procedure. Taking needle samples from the skin is one thing but taking samples from the abdominal cavity should only be performed by a veterinarian who has performed this procedure before and has the right equipment to guide the needle. While this sounds like common sense, and it is, not all primary care veterinarians routinely perform needle aspirate tissue biopsies. It is very important to know the status of any suspicious mass before surgery as the appropriate course of treatment can change if a mass is malignant. You should know if a mass is malignant before surgery and you should be presented with a variety of treatment options. While a standard biopsy - often called a punch or surgical biopsy - can cause spread of malignant growths, a sample taken with a needle is the appropriate diagnostic method according the Merck Veterinary Manual. It is important to understand the difference between a punch or surgical biopsy and needle aspiration cytology. With respect to staging cancer, do not accept the word of a primary care veterinarian that cancer has spread unless they have performed a test with definitive diagnostic value. You are in the company of a shoddy practitioner if a primary care veterinarian looks at your dog and renders a diagnosis of metastatic disease without any evidence. Again, this sounds like common sense but it could happen to your dog and an uninformed diagnosis always leads to uninformed treatment decisions.
Most primary care veterinarians are not equipped to effectively treat malignancies. If a needle aspirate tissue sample contains malignant cells, you should make an appointment with a veterinary oncologist as soon as possible. A veterinary oncologist has a lot more experience treating cancer than a primary care veterinarian and can help you make informed treatment decisions. When caught early enough, some forms of cancer are curable by surgery. A veterinary oncologist has the knowledge required to decide if a malignancy is treatable by surgery alone or if additional treatment is required. Furthermore, a veterinary oncologist is likely to recommend an aggressive removal and see to it that the correct surgical margins are observed. If you must have your primary care veterinarian remove the mass, find out about the correct surgical margins for the particular malignancy and ask your vet if they can still perform the surgery. For example, surgical margins for mast cell tumors should extend three centimeters in ALL directions. Depending on the location of the mass, this could extend to muscle and bone beneath and around the mass. If your primary care veterinarian is uncomfortable performing an aggressive mass removal, find a veterinarian who can perform the procedure. It is very important to remove all of the mass; "almost" all of the mass is never enough. Failing to follow appropriate surgical margins is not only malpractice, such a surgery amounts to little more than "debulking" a tumor. If a veterinarian cannot remove all the mass, the disease may be either unresectable or require additional treatment. It is okay to be persistent when it comes to the welfare of your dog. Any vet who wants to remove a mass before diagnosis is not doing you or your dog any favors.
As with cancer in humans, early detection gives your dog or cat the best chance of survival. If you are worried about a skin condition or suspicious mass, ask your veterinarian to take tissue samples with a fine-needle. Ask your veterinarian if they have taken needle aspirate tissue samples before. If not, find a vet who has. A monthly combing gives you a chance to find skin conditions even earlier. A small mast cell tumor might look like a mosquito bite or have an irregular shape like a skin hive. Unlike a mosquito bite, a mast cell tumor doesn't go away. Mast cell tumors are usually raised above the skin and red or dark red. However mast cell tumors have a reputation for unusual presentation so be sure and ask your vet if you find something that doesn't necessarily look suspicious but seems to have attracted your dog's attention. Mast cell tumors are very itchy - healthy mast cells produce the raised, reddened reaction to a mosquito bite - and many dogs will lick the tumor site incessantly long before you notice anything is wrong.
While any mass is suspicious, a mass or sore with any of the following characteristics should be examined by a licensed veterinarian as quickly as possible. These guidelines are important regardless of the age of your dog. Dogs that are otherwise in perfect health develop cancer although the disease is more common in older animals. One week could mean the difference between a mass the vet can remove and a mass the vet cannot remove.
Chemotherapy is a scary word that often conjures visions of constant vomiting and weakness. Veterinary oncologists use lower doses of the same drugs given to humans, so an animal undergoing chemotherapy is usually spared the terrible side effects seen in humans. An animal undergoing chemotherapy might experience some temporary vomiting and diarrhea but those effects are rare and usually only temporary. You can expect chemotherapy to cause decreased red and white blood cell counts but these side effects are not usually dangerous and are much better than the effects of untreated cancer. At the University of Minnesota, the costs of chemotherapy are far less than you might expect. Each round cost $300-$400, once every three weeks or so, and this price included the cost of appointments with the veterinary oncologist, all necessary tests, the treatment itself, and take home prescriptions. There were also expenses at her regular vet during treatment, mostly for a bi-weekly checkup and complete blood count. While chemotherapy is not inexpensive, do not be afraid to find out about the costs and effects. Radiation is more expensive but more effective in some cases. However radiation relies on oxidative stress to damage cancer cells and may be ineffective against tumors that are poorly vascularized.
The information on this page is designed to raise awareness about canine cancer and provide dog owners with essential information about forms of canine cancer, diagnosis, and treatment. Nothing on this page is a substitute for medical advice and treatment provided by a licensed veterinarian.
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