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What is a veterinary oncologist?
A veterinary oncologist is specially trained to diagnose and treat animals with cancer. A veterinary oncologist is board-certified -- certified as a specialist in the treatment of cancer by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM). This means that this veterinarian has completed an approved residency in veterinary oncology and has successfully passed two tests to demonstrate both general and specific knowledge in oncology.
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Can cancer be treated in animals?
Cancer is the number one cause of death in geriatric patients, BUT cancer is also the most curable of chronic diseases! Success rates vary from pet to pet. Your oncologist will determine your pet's possible success rate to the best of his/her abilities based on the type of cancer, treatment, and pet's response. Your oncologist cannot predict the future, but your oncologist can help to keep the quality of your pet's life as the utmost priority.
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What is chemotherapy?
Chemotherapy is the use of intravenous, intralesional, oral, or intracavity medication to kill cancer cells. After determining your pet's condition and type of cancer, your oncologist will recommend certain drugs, dosages, and the length of treatment. It is imperative that the benefit of drugs prescribed outweighs the risks of side effects caused by the drug. These side effects will be discussed by your oncologist prior to any administration of drug.
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What side effects does chemotherapy cause?
Although most patients respond well to chemotherapy, side effect may include nausea, diarrhea, appetite and weight loss, skin or urine discoloration, low white blood cell counts, and fatigue. In every case, we try to prevent side effects by using such medication as antibiotics and antinausea drugs. Most patients experience only mild side effects or none at all. However, you need to understand potential problems associated with chemotherapy. Open communication between you, the oncology team, and the oncologist is critical.
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Will my pet lose hair?
Most dogs and cats won't lose significant amounts of hair. However, breeds that require periodic hair trimming, such as poodles, spaniels, and some terriers, can lose significant amounts of hair. After chemotherapy, it's common for hair to regrow in a different texture or color. Breeds with “feathers” (varying layers of fur) will lose longer hairs, and some fur that's been shaved for catheter placement or surgery may not regrow as quickly. Cats also may lose whiskers. However, most hair usually regrows after chemotherapy treatment.
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Will my pet require hospitalization?
Most chemotherapy is administered on an outpatient basis. This means your pet will spend a few to several hours during the day at our hospital but won't need to stay overnight. The type of drugs used and administration method will determine the length of each visit.
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What is radiation?
Radiation therapy is a method of treating cancer with x-rays or electrons. The effectiveness of radiation therapy varies depending on tumor size, patient species, cancer type, and tumor location. It is most effective at treating tumors that occur in one area (localized disease) rather than tumors that have spread to other parts of the body (systemic disease). Radiation therapy is ideally given every day for a period of three to four weeks, and each treatment requires a brief general anesthesia . Both normal and cancer cells are affected, but radiation treatment is designed to maximize tumor effect and minimize the effect on normal tissues. Maximizing tumor effect is one reason that radiation treatments are given as a series of small doses rather than one large dose.
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What is palliative radiation?
Radiation therapy can be used to provide pain relief and occasionally to attempt rapid tumor shrinkage to provide immediate relief from pressure, bleeding, or pain. This is called palliative treatment. The most useful situation for palliative radiation is to relieve pain from bone tumors.
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What does ‘tumor stage' mean?
Tumor stage refers to ‘how far the cancer has spread' within a patient. It is important for your oncologist to determine tumor stage in order to have the best medical information possible to provide optimal treatment recommendations for your pet. Each pet is an individual! Some examples of testing that might be performed for ‘tumor staging' include:
- Complete blood count, chemistry panel, and urinalysis in order to assess your pet's overall health status.
- Chest radiographs (x-rays) to see if the tumor has spread to the lungs and to aid in assessment of the heart.
- Abdominal ultrasound to see if the tumor has spread to any of the abdominal organs.
- Cytology to see if cancer cells are present within a sample of cells from any particular organ. This sample is obtained by a fine needle aspirate .
- Biopsy to see what type of cancer your pet has, and often to aid in obtaining tumor grade.
- CT scan (three dimensional x-ray imaging) in order to really see how far the tumor spreads locally, and to identify if any critical organs or bones are invaded by the tumor. CT is also frequently performed to aid in radiation treatment planning.
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What does ‘tumor grade' mean?
Tumor grade is information obtained from the biopsy of your pet's tumor. Your oncologist will look for tumor grade on a pathology report if it will aid in prognosis or treatment recommendations for patients. It often will! Tumor grade is often categorized as low grade, intermediate grade, or high grade.
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What is cryotherapy?
Cryosurgery is a method of killing tumor cells with extremely cold temperatures using liquid nitrogen or other similar compounds. The tumors best treated with cryosurgery are small , benign masses less than one inch in diameter. Depending on the location of the tumor, the patient may require sedation, local anesthesia, or general anesthesia to perform cryotherapy.
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What is metastasis?
Metastasis is the spread of cancer in locations “distant” from the primary tumor. Typically, these locations include lymph nodes which drain the primary tumor location or the lungs.
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What is the difference between a malignant tumor and a benign tumor?
A malignant tumor is a tumor which has the ability to metastasize, or spread to other sites in the body. A benign tumor does not have this capability. Malignant tumors and benign tumors are both tumors, nonetheless. Tumors are a population of cells with uncontrolled growth. A benign tumor, therefore, does have the ability to take a patient's life if located in a critical location (for example, the brain or nasal cavity).
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