Canine Mast Cell Tumours - What You Need To Know

A dog presents to you limping. You take an x-ray and discover an aggressive bone lesion. You suspect a primary bone tumour. What are the differential diagnoses? What next?

As a vet, you will encounter a dog with an aggressive appendicular bone lesion on x-rays. Most dogs will have osteosarcoma, but other types of cancers, benign lesions and infection are possible.

Canine mast cell tumours are common in general practice. The diagnosis is usually straightforward by means of fine needle aspiration; however, management can be challenging due to the variable behaviour ranging from locally infiltrating lesions to aggressive mast cell tumours metastasising to the liver and spleen. As a consequence, outcomes range from weeks to years. The aim of the webinar is to focus on the use of prognostic factors to predict the behaviour of mast cell tumours and to guide management of each individual case. Once the extent of disease and likely prognosis has been established, a plethora of treatment options need to be considered including surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, palliative supportive care as sole or multi-modal therapy. Dogs with a good prognosis should be offered treatment options aimed at long term control, whereas the focus for dogs with a poor prognosis might need to be palliative. The second part of the webinar is focused on highlighting when to consider which treatment options.

Staging is one of the most important components of oncology case management. It involves determining the extent of local disease along with the presence or absence of regional or distant metastasis. The results of staging are used to give more accurate and informed treatment options along with prognostic information for each oncology patient. Some of the biggest challenges in staging is to consider how much staging is required for each case, which are the most appropriate tests, and if the results of these tests will impact treatment options and prognosis. I will discuss this information in a case-based and evidence-based approach, focusing on some of the more common cancers including canine mast cell tumours, lymphoma, oral tumours and apocrine gland anal sac adenocarcinomas.