Question: My dog has just been diagnosed with a melanoma that is growing from his toe. I recently noticed a black hard lump where his nail grows. When my vet examined my dog, a big lymph node was found. A test was done and my vet says there are cancer cells in the lymph node, too. I am being told that the prognosis for my dog is terrible. He is an 11-year-old Rottweiler. Is there anything you can do?
Answer: I am glad to say that there are treatment options for your dog. Unfortunately, melanoma is a very aggressive cancer and once this cancer finds its way into the lymph node, it is not usually curable. I am guessing that you were given a terrible prognosis for your dog because this is not a curable cancer.
Although it is true that lymph node positive melanomas are not usually cured in canine patients, the way that we look at cancer in our geriatric patients is somewhat different than the way we may look at cancer in a young or middle-aged dog. In older patients, we do not have to eradicate every single cancer cell in the body for a patient to be able to live with his disease. We just need to maintain a low enough level of cancer to prevent cancer-related symptoms or discomfort.
For example, at the current time, your dog is probably uncomfortable since there is a tumor growing from his nail bed. The first treatment step will be to alleviate this discomfort by removing the tumor. To decrease the amount of cancer in your dog’s body, the next step will be to remove the lymph node that has cancer cells present in it. After that, we will want to prevent the cancer cells from travelling from the lymph node to the lung by using a treatment called immunotherapy. This uses your dog’s own immune system to fight the cancer that is in his body. Most patients have very few side effects from this type of cancer therapy.
By treating your dog with a combination of surgery and immunotherapy, there is a good possibility we will be able to extend your dog’s life and quality of life. By treating cancer as a long-term disease, and attempting to maintain a low level or stable amount of cancer in the body, your dog can live out the remainder of his natural life comfortably with minimal symptoms of his cancer, and minimal side effects from the treatment. As we discussed earlier, this is probably not going to be a cancer that we cure, but one that we can manage for the remainder of your dog’s life. I wish you well.
Dr. Correa
Stephanie Correa, DVM
Board Certified in Oncology
Animal Cancer Care Clinic
www.AnimalCancerCareClinic.com
Read more articles by Dr. Correa | Ask her a question
Source: http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/pawshere/2012/12/20/rotties-melanoma-treatable-but-not-curable/
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