Health News -- Cancer in Dogs
(Copyright © 2001-2002 Linda K. Lawrie. All rights reserved)

While we hope it's not common, our dogs can get cancer.  Golden Retrievers seem to have a high occurrence of lymphoma, hemangiosarcoma, but can get other forms as well.  As in humans, the best chance for long remission is catching it early!

Like the American Cancer Society’s “Seven Early Signs of Cancer,” the Veterinary Cancer Society and the AVMA have developed a list of 10 common signs, to educate pet owners about cancer.  From the American Veterinary Medical Association

Ten Common Signs of Cancer in Small Animals
1. Abnormal swellings that persist or continue to grow.
2. Sores that do not heal.
3. Weight loss.
4. Loss of appetite.
5. Bleeding or discharge from any body opening.
6. Offensive odor
7. Difficulty eating or swallowing.
8. Hesitation to exercise or loss of stamina.
9. Persistent lameness or stiffness.
10. Difficulty breathing, urinating, or defecating.

Now, these are general. I have seen other places that mention for hemangiosarcoma -- anemia and/or pale gums. Jeanne mentions general itching which happened in her Rose (Osteosarcoma). Itching perhaps due to the tumor releasing histamines -- which many kinds of tumors do. In mast cell tumors, part of the treatment is often tagamet/pepcid/zantac -- to counteract the histamines that will bother the stomach. Ollie (Osteosarcoma) started limping -- no tumor; finally a pathologic fracture appeared. Stan (Hemangiosarcoma) had no symptoms prior to us finding the 8.5 tumor surrounding spleen; in retrospect, we thought he looked a bit "puffy" in the abdomen but could still feel his ribs. (By the way, Stan was not a GR but went into remission after chemo treatment and stayed in remission.)

Several treatment options for cancer present themselves, typically:

1.  Do nothing -- not a good choice but sometimes all you have.  Give them the best quality of life you can and keep them as pain free as possible.

2.  Chemotherapy/Drugs -- this is actually quite a good choice for dogs.  They do not typically experience many of the side effects seen in humans (like losing their hair) and can do quite well.  Can be expensive.

3.  Alternative treatments -- Supplements are aimed at helping build up the immune system to fight off the cancer cells.  These can often be done in conjunction with chemotherapy (though perhaps not simultaneously).

4.  Radiation and other traditional treatments -- Radiation is used in several specific kinds of cancer (A GRRRR Volunteer's Rusty was treated with radiation for Fibrosarcoma -- and is still here to tell the story!).

We also have a CanineCancer (any breed) yahoogroups list (I'm one of the moderators).  And -- cancer can strike any kind of dog (and probably cat but I don't know much about those.)

Here are some web sites that may prove informative or useful:

http://vetmedicine.about.com/cs/cancer/index.htm
http://oncolink.upenn.edu/specialty/vet_onc/
http://www.vet.purdue.edu/vcs/Pcop/Homepage.html
http://www.altvetmed.com/Cancer.html
http://www.gulfcoastvetspec.com/oncology/index.htm
http://www.cvmbs.colostate.edu/cancercure/nutrition.htm
And from an owner's perspective:
http://members.home.net/caninecancer/