Oncology

A 13-year-old 35.2-lb (16-kg) neutered male bichon frise was referred to the Veterinary Emergency Clinic in Toronto, Ontario, for evaluation of a caudal thoracic mass that had been identified radiographically by the referring veterinarian.

NATIONAL REPORT - Brett Cordes, DVM, turned 35 when he felt the lump in his neck.

Raleigh, N.C. - PharmaCom BioVet Inc. announced plans this month two partner with two different entities for the purpose of extending the availability of cancer care for companion animals.

Neoplastic disease is a common clinical entity in exotic small mammals (rabbits, ferrets, rodents). Affected patients can exhibit a wide variety of clinical conditions.

Clients are always somewhat reluctance to treat pets with chemotherapy because of the horror stories that circulate about the use of chemotherapy in people.

Paraneoplastic syndromes may develop from the excessive production of hormones from an adenomatous or carcinomatous gland.

Osteosarcoma is the most common primary bone tumor in the dog (85% of skeletal malignancies). It is estimated to occur in over 8,000 dogs/year in the United States.

Canine malignant melanoma of the oral cavity, nail bed, foot pad and mucocutaneous junction is a spontaneously occurring, highly aggressive and frequently metastatic neoplasm.

Lymphoma (LSA) is the most common tumor of the cat and represents approximately 80-90% of hematopoietic tumors in cats. LSA is the third most common tumor in the dog with an estimated annual incidence of 13-24/100,000 dogs at risk.

Vaccination has generally been considered to be a benign procedure in veterinary medicine. Unfortunately, soft tissue sarcoma development subsequent to vaccination (vaccine-associated sarcoma) in cats has dramatically changed this view within our profession over the last twenty years.

Head and neck tumors are relatively common in cats. An understanding of the differentials in this anatomic location is very important as the diagnostic and therapeutic approach may vary.

This discussion will review what I feel to be the top 10 clinically relevant advances in veterinary oncology over the last approximately 10 years.

Mammary gland tumors are some of the most common tumors seen in veterinary clinical practice.

Paraneoplastic syndromes are neoplasm-associated alterations in bodily structure and/or function that occur distant to the tumor.

Mast cell tumors are the most common tumor in the dog and the second most common tumor in the cat.

Raliegh, N.C. - NCSU will rank as the nation's first university to offer bone-marrow transplantation in a clinical setting.

Q: Please provide a review on palliative care for animals diagnosed with cancer.

Thyroid tumors are relatively uncommon in dogs, accounting for only 1 percent to 4 percent of all tumors. The majority of diagnosed thyroid tumors in dogs are malignant, because adenomas are clinically silent and found incidentally on necropsy.

Injection-site sarcomas are associated with high recurrence rates, even with wide surgical excision.

Columbus, Ohio - A decade of research and $20 million in grants yields an impressive recipe for uncovering new information about retrovirus-associated cancer as it affects both animals and humans.

Veterinarians will see more pets with cancer, since our pet populations are living longer.

Treating specific types of cancer can be very rewarding.

Because the language of pathology originated in numerous countries and has been handed down for many generations, pathology reports are often confusing and full of misnomers.

The veterinary profession and more specifically, oncologists are taking an interest in the concept of metronomic chemotherapy.

When a pet is diagnosed with cancer, the bond that is shared between them and their human caregivers grows stronger.

Cancer pain management was not taught in veterinary schools until the 1990's.

When treating oncology patients, technicians realize more stress and job pressure with dealing with chemotherapy drugs that are vasosclerotics such as Adriamycin (doxorubricin).

One might be tempted to say that a tumor that rarely spreads to the lungs does not require thoracic radiography, but I cannot think of any instance in a cancer patient's work-up in which looking at the thorax is unnecessary.

Malignant tumors of the lower urinary tract include transitional cell carcinoma, squamous-cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, leiomyosarcoma, fibrosarcoma, hemangiosarcoma and rhabdomyosarcoma.

Pullman, Wash. - In an effort to make canine bone-marrow transplants more commonplace for dogs, Washington State University's (WSU) College of Veterinary Medicine is preparing to open its own transplant center at its veterinary teaching hospital.