Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Long-term outcomes of dogs undergoing surgical resection of mast cell tumors and soft tissue sarcomas: A prospective 2-year-long study.
- Journal:
- Veterinary surgery : VS
- Year:
- 2020
- Authors:
- Milovancev, Milan et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Clinical Sciences
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
This study looked at the long-term results for 53 dogs that had surgery to remove mast cell tumors (a type of skin cancer) and soft tissue sarcomas (a type of cancer in the connective tissues). The dogs were checked at various times after surgery for any signs of the cancer coming back. While many of the tumors had very small margins of healthy tissue around them after removal, the rates of the cancer returning were low, especially for the low-grade mast cell tumors. In fact, only a few dogs had local recurrences or spread of the cancer after surgery. Overall, the findings suggest that even with some tumors having close margins, the surgery was generally successful in preventing cancer from coming back.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Report clinical outcomes of dogs with surgically excised mast cell tumors (MCT) and soft tissue sarcomas (STS). STUDY DESIGN: Prospective clinical study. SAMPLE POPULATION: Fifty-three dogs with 52 MCT (50 low grade, 2 high grade) and 19 STS (12 grade I, 6 grade II, 1 grade III). METHODS: All dogs were examined at 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months postoperatively, with cytologic or histopathologic evaluation of suspected local recurrences. Dogs euthanized because of study tumor-related causes underwent necropsy. RESULTS: Median intraoperative margins were 20 mm and 30 mm wide for MCT and STS, respectively, with 1 fascial plane resected en bloc. The narrowest histologic tumor-free margins measured <1 mm in 21 of 52 (40%) MCT and 7 of 19 (37%) STS. All dogs were followed for 24 months. Two of 50 (4%) low-grade MCT were diagnosed, with local recurrence 181 and 265 days postoperatively. Two of 36 (6%) dogs with low-grade MCT developed visceral metastasis 181 and 730 days postoperatively. One of 2 dogs with high-grade MCT developed local recurrence 115 days postoperatively. No local recurrence or metastasis was diagnosed after excision of 19 STS. CONCLUSION: Local recurrence rates among predominantly low- to intermediate-grade MCT and STS were low, despite a high prevalence of histologic tumor-free margins <1 mm. Surgical recommendations for high-grade tumors cannot be extrapolated from this population. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Surgeons should seek to achieve microscopically complete excision for MCT and STS while minimizing patient morbidity and considering limitations of histopathology in predicting outcomes.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31044443/