Archive for Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Nasal Cancer, in memory of Max the Police Dog
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A friend told me about this story. I have not been in the habit of writing about media news in this blog, but this story caught my attention and could be used to expound on nasal tumors in dogs.
Here is the story. Max, a Springer spaniel, passed away in Britain due to nasal cancer. He spent his days helping the police find drugs, specifically cocaine. I was saddened to hear of this ironic, dark twist. I am sorry, Max. I hope you are at peace.
Common cancers that affect the nasal sinus in dogs are squamous cell carcinoma, fibrosarcoma, melanoma, and rarely, transmissible venereal tumors.
Nasal cancer has been chalked up to several different carcinogens. Some of the most common airborne ones are in pesticides, herbicides, kerosene, fossil fuel emissions (from gas and diesel engines, industry and the like), and cigarette smoke. Here are some examples
2,4-D is a carcinogen found in over 1000 herbicides.
Nitrogen dioxide is a biggy too, leading to chronic lung disease, at least in humans. It is likely, but not proven yet, to cause nasal sinus disease too.
Oxygen-derived free radicals in smog are a likely (speculated) risk factor for DNA mutations leading to cancer.
Long-nosed dogs have a higher nasal cancer rate when inhaling second hand smoke particles. Short or medium nosed dogs have higher lung cancer rates due to the second hand smoke.
Asbestos exposure in dogs have higher rates of a cancer called mesothelioma, and people exposed to it get lung cancers.
So keep your dog away from these things as much as possible, and while you are at it, keep yourself away as well.
Best to all,
Dr Dressler
Luteolin and Dog Cancer, Continued
Posted by: | CommentsThis is the follow up to the last post about luteolin, a bioflavonoid found in several plants (celery, perilla, artichoke, peanut hull, chrysanthemum and others).
This stuff has a whole slew of literature supporting it’s use for cancer.
It is so new though that not many have heard of it in this country.
I have been using it with dogs with cancer and have been impressed with some of the results. This of course is my clinical opinion, and is not meant to be a blanket recommendation.
Why did I get interested? Well, the evidence in rodents and people point to some really good stuff! And to top it off, there seems to be harmony with chemotherapy agents. Read on!
Cancers with a molecule on the outside of their cells called HER are pretty resistant to chemo. Luteolin showed it could decrease the tumors in rodents with these tough cancers. Here’s the link.
Luteolin also was able to decrease prostate cancer cell growth in mice, as well as oral squamous cell carcinoma cells. Check out these articles here and here.
I found another article that showed the same for liver cancer cells. See for yourself!
So we have multiple different cancers all responding to luteolin in mice, and based on my research no significant adverse effects in 26 dogs so far. This is not that many in the broad scheme of things, but is pretty darned good anyway.
And this was all when it was given by mouth, in living bodies, not test tube or petri dishes, and not injected…
Finally, chemo effects were actually enhanced with cisplatin (read more), doxorubicin (here you go), and the human chemo drug paxlitaxel (check it out).
One source of Luteolin is Lutimax, made by SynoRx.
As always, discuss medical decisions with your vet or oncologist before action, and I hope this helps!
Best,
Dr Dressler
Dog Cancer Surgery: They Didn’t Get It All Out
Posted by: | CommentsSound familiar? Did this happen to anyone out there?
Removal of all the cancer cells from the body during surgery is pretty important. How can we tell?
The most important thing to do is get that biopsy report. Some don’t want the extra cost. “Just get it out” is a line I have heard from time to time. However, the report from the path lab can be absolutely critical.
Why does it matter? Well, there are a couple of reasons. First, the pathologist can evaluate the borders of the tissue I, or your vet/oncologist, submit after removal. This is called comprehensive margin evaluation.
This evaluation tells us if there are cancer cells still left in the dog or not, around the surgery site anyway. If there are cancer cells at the border of what gets turned in to the lab, there are probably some left in the dog.
So, if you get the path report back and there are cancer cells at the edge of the submitted specimen, it would be wise to go back in and remove more tissue. Yes, I am talking about a second surgery.
Some cancer types spread out around where the lump actually is resting. So the dog will have cancer cells around the tumor that you can’t see with the naked eye. Some examples are osteosarcoma, some mast cell tumors, squamous cell carcinoma, fibrosarcoma, hemangiopericytoma (nerve sheath tumor), some mammary cancers (inflammatory carcinomas especially), hemangiosarcoma, malignant melanoma, and more.
In these cases, sometimes a wide excision (removing more than what “looks like” the cancer at the time of surgery is the way to go. A fine needle aspirate or small biopsy before surgery can actually save cost in the end, by ascertaining whether a wide excision is needed before surgical removal.
Best to all,
Dr Dressler
Dog cancer: What is Micrometastasis and Why Do We Care?
Posted by: | CommentsI get a lot of inquiries that relate to whether a cancer is gone after it is removed, or what will be the outcome.
Sometimes these are tough to answer, and the reason is micrometastasis.
Micrometastsis occurs when a cancer spreads from a site, but the spread is not detectable by the usual means available. Only a few cells take off, traveling perhaps in the circulation to set up shop elsewhere in the dog’s body. So few cells spread, that they are undetectable.
So you have someone like me take the tumor out, for example, and the borders are examined by a pathologist to see if the margins are “clean” (no cancer cells at the edge, they are all located near the center of the removed piece, suggesting complete removal). Your path report says “complete excision” (complete removal).
Say though, that you are faced with the diagnosis of a malignant melanoma, a Grade 3 mast cell tumor, an osteosarcoma, an advanced squamous cell carcinoma, a large hemangiosarcoma, or some other kind of canine cancer with a known tendency to spread.
Suppose your vet or oncologist was very thorough and did all that could be done to see whether there was evidence of spread, and all the tests were negative. But your vet or oncologist is still pessimistic. Why?
Micrometastasis. The cancer did spread, but only a few cells. These can sneak up on us later, turning up as cancers that were not there at the time we checked, but were there later.
This is why we are sometimes talking about steps beyond surgery when there is no evidence the cancer has spread. We want to make sure we are addressing the known tendency of these cancers to take off, even when the tests looking for spread are negative.
Best to all,
Dr D
Signs of Cancer in Dogs
Posted by: | CommentsMany people as me what to look for to tell if their dogs have cancer. Well, I must confess it is a tough question since there are so many cancers, and they all can present a little differently. I thought I should give you a little summary of some of the biggies.
First, statistically, cancer TENDS to affect older dogs. So, more lumps and bumps on a young dog are benign than cancerous. One hallmark of a cancer is it worsens over time. Cancers you can see usually get bigger. A growth that stays very small for years is not likely to be a true cancer. Again, this is on average and is not a guarantee.
Some cancers are visible, while others are internal. The visible ones can be blackish (melanomas), purplish (hemangiosarcomas), fleshy, inflamed and red (histiocytomas), look like a non-healing open sore (squamous cell carcinomas), be firm, hard and deeply attached (fibrosarcomas), or have any appearance (mast cell tumor, the great imitator).
The internal ones are invisible, so we have to look for overall signs in the dog. When they are far along, cancers usually cause weight loss (cancer cachexia) without an obvious external reason. They often will cause less appetite. Many times dog owners will tell me they think their dog got tired of his or her food. They can cause low energy, where the dog will just lay around a lot.
Internal cancer signs also depend on where the cancer is happening. For example, a bone tumor (osteosarcoma) might cause a limp, or a bladder tumor (transitional cell carcinoma) might cause straining to urinate, blood in urine, or urinating small amounts frequently. A tumor found in the wall of the stomach might cause vomiting, and in the intestine, diarrhea.
Some cancers cause internal bleeding, like hemangiosarcoma of the spleen. This bleeding causes sudden weakness and wobbly legs. A nasal tumor like a squamous cell carcinoma might cause discharge or bleeding from a nostril, or sneezing that won’t go away. Lung cancers (bronchial adenocarcima) or tumors of the heart can cause coughing. Lumps in the breast with discharge from teats could be mammary carcinomas.
The good news is, not all of these signs point to cancer. Lots of other things can cause each and every one of these signs. The important thing to remember is to get it checked out by someone who knows what they are doing. If we are dealing with cancer, moving early is the way to go.
Best to all,
Dr Dressler
