If you'd like to make a
difference and help
save an American
Eskimo dog's life:
Cancer
The Big "C" Doesn't Always Mean a Death Sentence
Cancer is by far the biggest killer of
dogs. Just over 50% of all dogs die from cancer. But getting
cancer doesn't necessarily mean a death sentence. There has
been a dramatic improvement in veterinary medical treatment
for many kinds of canine cancer in recent
years. A number of cancers can be treated resulting in
cures and remission. Much of what is available today in
terms of treatment has been derived from cancer treatment
for humans. The key to successful cancer treatment is early
detection.
Warning Signs
Regardless of the age of your Eskie, be
forever watchful for signs that things may not be as they
should be. Bottomline is if you notice something unusual
that is ongoing, go to the vet and get it checked out.
Different cancers will have different symptoms. Some cancers
are easy to detect such as the appearance of a lump. Yet
with some cancers, symptoms don't show up until the cancer
has developed significantly and metastisized or spread to
different parts of the body. Typical symptoms listed in
medical literature include excessive thirst, lack of
appetite, lethargy or lack of energy, lameness in one of the
legs, excessive urination or lack of urination, straining to
defecate, constant diarrhea or loose stools, thinning of the
stools, repeated licking of an area of the body, display of
pain, warts, swelling of an area of the body and lumps. It's
good to run your hands through your Eskies hair and feel the
skin throughout their body looking for lumps. Also look for
signs of tender areas. If you find an area that has a lump
or is tender, or you notice your Eskie is displaying some
kind of unusual symptom that is ongoing, take him to the vet
and get it checked out.
Getting It Checked Out
Many cancers come in the form of lumps or
tumours, unless it is some type of blood cancer like
lymphoma. Some tumours are near the surface of the body and
can be felt externally and others are inside internal
organs. Do not rely on bloodwork to confirm the presence of
cancer. Cancer does not necessarily show up in bloodwork. If
you suspect something is wrong in a certain area of your
Eskie's body, ask your vet for a physical exam and ask for
the appropriate imaging test. This might be an x-ray,
ultrasound or even a CT scan. The CT scan is the most
accurate available imaging technique. Once the tumour has
been located either through a physical exam or by some
imaging test, typically the procedure is to get a needle
aspirate of the tumour. A needle is injected into the area
and the contents are sent off to the lab for histology
analysis.
Get It "Gone"
If the histology report confirms the
presence of cancer, ask your vet about surgery to get the
tumour removed as soon as possible. Time is of the essence.
Your vet may recommend more imaging to see if the cancer has
spread before surgical removal. Even if the cancer has
spread, getting the main tumour out may buy you some time and
whatever has spread may be treated with radiation or
chemotherapy. Be strong and don't give up. In the case of
surgery for tumour removal, your vet will try to remove as
much of the tumour as possible and get a wide clear margin
around the tumour location. The tumour can then be sent off
to the pathologist to determine the exact pathology of the
cancer such as what stage the cancer is and how aggressive it
may or may not be. If removing a wide clear margin
around the tumour was not possible through surgery, then you
will need to follow-up with either radiation or chemotherapy
to remove any remnants of cancer. Ask your vet to refer
you for a consultation with a veterinary oncologist.
Oncology
Oncology is the specialty in veterinary
medicine dealing with cancer. There are Oncologists who
specialize in chemotherapy and there are Radiation
Oncologists who specialize in radiation treatment.
Once you have a diagnosis of cancer from your vet, your vet
will typically refer you to an Oncologist. If not, you
should schedule a consultation with an Oncologist to find
out what your options are for treating your Eskie. Oncology
is a rapidly developing field. Don't presume that your
vet has kept up-to-date with all of the new and
developing cancer treatments. We have heard from lots of
people during the course of cancer treatments that their regular
vet thought their dog's cancer was terminal when in fact the
Oncologist's verdict was different. Each type of cancer has
its own treatment protocol. For some cancers, for example
for those that are spread throughout the body like
lymphoma, chemotherapy is the preferred treatment
modality. For others, where is there a localized tumour,
surgery and possibly radiation are recommended. Some advanced cancers
require treatment with surgery, radiation and
chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy treatments for dogs is constantly evolving. Perhaps what is unknown to most people is that
cancer research for humans is often first tried out on dogs. Approximately 94 percent of a dog's physiology is the same as a humans.
This implies that in some cases, some cancer treatments may be available for dogs before they are available to humans.
For example, a melanoma (skin cancer) vaccine is available for dogs.
Dog cancer research is often conducted at universities that offer education in veterinary medicine and have veterinary teaching hospitals and animal medical treatment
hospitals. This is where you will find the latest available treatment protocols for cancer and other diseases. It's a good idea to consult with an oncology specialist
at a veterinary teaching hospital at a university and compare the chemotherapy treatment protocol they advise before implementing the chemotherapy protocol
recommended by your local oncology specialist. Don't be surprized if the recommended chemotherapy treatments are different from each other. You don't need a referral from your vet to
setup an appointment with an oncologist at a veterinary teaching hospital. You can call and setup the appointment yourself. Just make sure you have all of the diagnostic reports from your vet
or specialist sent to the veterinary teaching hospital. Often these institutions get public funding so treatment fees for cancer and other diseases will cost less than what you'd pay at a
private practice or private specialty hospital. Also drug costs are usually less.
Veterinary teaching hospitals and university veterinary medicine hospitals sometimes conduct trials on newly developed medicines and treatment protocols. If your Eskie has
a terminal case of cancer or some other disease, you may check with these veterinary institutions to see if any clinical trials are available that could help.
Immunotherapy
Veterinary researchers have been conducting research on developing gene therapies, immune therapies and immunophenotyping for dogs for many years.
Some of this research has been used to develop human immune therapies. Immune therapy involves taking a sample of genetic material from the cancer tumour, identifying the
genes causing the cancer and creating a collection of good genes and bacteria that when introduced into the body will identify the bad cancer cells and kill them.
Immune therapies are available to treat some types of dog cancer and the science is constantly evolving. You can check with veterinary medical faculties, specialists at veterinary teaching
hospitals and university veterinary medical centers to see if there is an available immune therapy to treat your Eskies cancer. So far, such advanced types of cancer treatments
are not available at your local vet or specialty hospital.
Radiation
Radiation may sound awful but it is the
most aggressive form of treatment and can actually get the
job done. Radiation zaps those cancer cells dead. Although
it is the most aggressive way of killing off cancer, it
tends to have less side effects than many of the
chemotherapy treatments. Radiation is targeted to a very
specific area of the body. Only a small area is
actually radiated. The typical radiation field may be
around 3 cm or larger if required. Whereas chemotherapy
affects the entire body. Radiation treatments happen over a course of 3
to 4 weeks and then you're done. Your Eskie will have a
"sunburn" on the treated area and some pain for a couple of weeks and
then the side effects are gone. Hair will not grow back
on the spot that was radiated. If the area radiated was on
the face, there may be some long term side effects like the
development of cataracts. If your Eskie had
a tumour that was removed surgically, radiation can be used
to kill remaining cancer cells that may have spread out from
the cancerous area. Radiation can also be used to
shrink or kill off very large tumours that were too large to
remove surgically.
Radiation is administered by a machine, the latest in
technology is called a linear accelerator. These
machines cost a couple of million dollars and so there are few facilities in North America that offer radiation
treatments for animals. Currently there are 3
facilities in Canada and 30 plus in the USA. The closest
facility to Vancouver is at Washington State University,
College of Veterinary Medicine in Pullman, Washington. It is
a 10 hour drive from Vancouver located about 90 miles south
of Spokane. The cost at WSU is significantly less than at
the Animal Cancer Centre in Calgary, Saskatoon or Guelph.