Veterinary Oncology: Biopsy and Treatment

Tumor Diagnosis and Treatment

• Incisional biopsy is necessary to determine the tumor type and prognosis, which affects the owner's decision to pursue curative-intent treatment.
• Canine transmissible venereal tumor (CTVT) is a histiocytic tumor that affects the external genitalia of dogs and other canids, transmitted through copulation.

Types of Tumors

• Cutaneous histiocytoma is a benign tumor that can regress within 2-3 months, but surgical removal may be necessary if it doesn't regress or grows rapidly.
• Lymphoma is a type of cancer with rare complete cure, but long remission times are possible with chemotherapy.
• Nasal adenocarcinoma is a type of cancer that responds well to radiation therapy in dogs and cats.
• Inflammatory mammary CA is a type of cancer that requires surgical removal with wide margins to prevent recurrence.
• Metastases present is a condition where cancer has spread to other parts of the body.

Treatment Approaches

• Chemotherapy alone has a 30% response rate and responses are usually short-lived.
• Radiation therapy is the treatment of choice for intranasal cancers in dogs and cats.
• Surgical removal is the treatment of choice for certain types of cancer, but chest x-rays should be taken first to rule out metastasis.

Diagnostic Plan for Neoplasia

• The diagnostic plan includes differential diagnosis, description and documentation, identification, grading, staging, assessing overall health, and treatment planning.
• A surgical plan may be indicated in certain cases.

Surgical Plan

• The most common mistake in oncologic surgery is not being aggressive enough on the first excision.
• The first excision is the best chance for a cure.