Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How staging lymph nodes helps in dog mast cell tumors
By Warland, J et al.·Published in Veterinary and comparative oncology·2014·Department of Veterinary Medicine, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: The utility of staging in canine mast cell tumours.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study looked at 220 dogs with mast cell tumors (MCTs) to see how well different tests could predict the spread of cancer. The tests included checking the lymph nodes, doing an abdominal ultrasound, and taking chest X-rays. They found that about 31% of the dogs had cancer spread to nearby lymph nodes, but only a small number had it spread to other parts of the body. The results suggested that if the lymph nodes are clear, further testing like chest X-rays may not be necessary. This information can help vets decide how to stage and treat MCTs more effectively.
People also search for: dog mast cell tumor treatment · dog lymph node cancer spread · mast cell tumor staging in dogs
Abstract
Current staging of canine mast cell tumours (MCTs) practiced by many veterinarians involves a minimum of lymph node (LN) assessment, abdominal ultrasound and thoracic radiography. Historically, some have advocated buffy coat and bone marrow evaluation. Two hundred and twenty dogs with MCT seen at a referral clinic were staged using LN palpation/cytology, thoracic radiography and abdominal ultrasound. The utility of each method was evaluated by considering prevalence of spread and future behaviour. At presentation, 30.9% of dogs had metastases to the local LN; 6.8% of all the dogs also had distant metastases. No dog had or developed distant metastasis in the absence of LN metastasis. No dog had convincing evidence of pulmonary metastasis. In this series, the local LN was sentinel to metastasis and in the absence of local LN metastasis, the utility of further staging was low. Thoracic radiography was not useful in the staging of canine MCT.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23240829/