QUOTE,
The Veterinary Medical Databases… were queried to yield
male dogs with …bladder transitional cell carcinoma (TCC),
prostate adenocarcinoma (ACA),
prostate TCC,
prostate carcinoma (CA),
and prostate tumors.
A second query yielded all male dogs over the age of 4 years
without a diagnosis of urinary tract cancer. These popns were
compared to determine relative risks for developing each…
singly and collectively, associated with neutering status.
Odds ratios were calculated for breed as a risk factor.

RESULTS:
Neutered males had a significantly increased risk for
each form of cancer. Neutered males had an odds ratio
of 3.56 (3.02-4.21) for urinary bladder TCC,
8.00 (5.60-11.42) for prostate TCC,
2.12 (1.80-2.49) for prostate adenocarcinoma,
3.86 (3.13-4.16) for prostate carcinoma,
and 2.84 (2.57-3.14) for all prostate cancers.
Relative risks were highly similar when… limited
to those with a histologically confirmed diagnosis.
—————— END QUOTE

the 8x risk is for prostate-TRANSITIONAL-CELL carcinoma,
**not p-ACA**… p-ACA risk-odds is 2.12, far less-dramatic.

also, may i point-out that without the Other Factor [8 x what?] we cannot make any conclusions about the real-risk; if the risk in intact-Ms of Disease-Y is 1 in every 10k dogs, that is exceedingly-low; if that risk in desexed-Ms is 8x that, it becomes 8 in every 10k dogs, which is still very-low.

added to that is AGE Of Onset –
carcinomas and neoplasms are generally-assoctd with AGE as a risk-factor; in the 1800s, if a child died of cholera, they did not live long-enough to develop cancer, let alone die of cancer.

so… what is the risk in INTACT M-dogs,
and what is the average Age-of-Onset or Dx?

then there is the speed factor:
* how rapidly does the cancer grow in situ?
* is it an aggressive metastatic – moving quickly to other tissue?
* or a slow-growing stay-at-home?

what about ** debility ** –
* does this cancer rapidly undermine normal function?
* or take a long-time to affect daily-life?
* are its symptoms profound or barely-noticeable?

if Dx with a rapidly-growing cancer that metastasizes FAST,
PLUS a rapid-onset of symptoms that will have me bedridden,
i would be far-more concerned –
conversely, Dx with a slow-growing cancer that stays-home,
and shows few if any symptoms for years, i will worry far-less.
in the second instance, i might live with it for a decade or more,
and in my day-to-day life, not notice a difference.
everyone has to die OF something; if instead i live WITH
something and die of something entirely-unrelated
[like an auto-accident - where i wear my seatbelt but am
hit head-on by a semi speeding downhill which crushes
my vehicle and me], then the cancer did not kill me;
eventually it might have, but it did not cause my death.

if ADDITIONALLY i am looking at a cancer that occurs in old-age,
and average Age-of-Onset is 80 to 85, i will not worry so much –
especially if i am 35-YO, it is exceedingly unlikely soon.

OTOH if average Age-of-Onset is 30 and i am 35 with risk-factors,
then i should be concerned to limit my risk, or monitor if the risk
cannot be limited [genetic, runs in the family, environmental and
applies to the western-half of the continent where i live, etc].

** what about the BREED risk-factor?
if my breed is extremely-unlikely to develop p-TCC,
i cannot get too exercised; if OTOH my breed once past 5-YO
has a much-higher susceptibility than most [say one in 100],
i will be a lot more concerned to limit risk, if possible.

* whats the risk of p-TCC for INTACT males?
[that pesky second-factor]

* whats the average Age-of-Onset?
4-YO? 12-YO? or something between?

* how RAPID and how DEBILITATING is p-TCC?
* does it grow fast and metastasize early –
or grow extremely-slow and rarely metastasize?
* does it put the dog in severe pain, limit activity and
profoundly affect the ability to maintain muscle-mass?
or hang-around and not do much?

* what BREEDS have higher-than-average risk of p-TCC?
and what’s that average-risk for any breed of dog?
[that pesky second-factor again.]

i would ask the same Qs re the other cancers –
are they very rare? very common? very-likely in certain breeds?
does each grow rapidly and aggressively metastasize…
or poke along growing slowly in one tissue?
is Age-of-Onset geriatric, or early-middle-age [over-10 or 5-YO]?

knowing something is TEN-Times as likely is not very informative;
if i move from an area where thunderstorms are very rare to FLORIDA
where thunderstorms are very-common, i have increased my risk
of being killed by lightning –
but it does not mean that i am doomed to die struck by a bolt.
AND there are simple precautions i can take to reduce my risk:
* don’t stand under tall trees – get indoors
* DO NOT use a cell-phone outside in a storm
* don’t be the tallest thing in the landscape
* get off the water if sailing, or OUT of it if swimming

if i do all those things, thunderstorms are unlikely to kill me…
at least with lightning; OTOH i may die in my car when an overhead traffic-light falls when the cable fails in the high wind associated with a severe storm, but that is a concatenation of factors – BEING under the traffic-signal at the time, being one of them. Location, location, location… at that precise moment.
not much i can do about that.

hoping for further info,
– terry

terry pride, APDT-Aus, apdt#1827, CVA; Truly Dog-Friendly

Wondering if you could answer this. My 6yo Bulldog “needs” to be neutered. I found a growth on his testicle. On sonogram it shows up as benign and looks and feels harmless as per my vet, but he suggests that I should neuter him anyway.
He however has severe food allergies (now eating raw and cooked foods, grain free only). Currently he has a STAPH infection on his belly, and I am so worried about neutering him. Question, can I leave him as is? Benign tumors are common in testicles….
Thank you for ANY advice,
Alya

my wonderful 12 year old border collie mix began to vomit and strain to defecate 2 days ago. His urination pattern changed. He stopped eating. I took him to the vet and learned that his bloodwork and temperature are normal but his prostate is huge. He was neutered at less than a year of age. The vet prescribed metronidazole, guessing at colitis. I don’t think the flagyl is helping and he hates it. He is still not eating and is obviously in discomfort. I know that further testing is needed to diagnose the problem but I suspect he may have prostate cancer. His back legs are also very weak and shaky. He has been a great dog and while I don’t regret neutering him, I wish I could help him more now… is there anything I can do to reduce the size of the prostate, so that he can at least pee and defecate comfortably while we figure this out? Any ideas about how to make him comfortable? I want to discontinue the flagy.
Your thoughts appreciated. Thank you.
Elise