Pet Forum / Miscellaneous / Animal Health / June 2005

.......not necessarily.  The above path report says they are _locally_
aggressive.  The surgeon did not get a clean margin (virtually impossible on
something like the leg where there's not much extra tissue) so the
likelihood of recurrence is greater.

......to  the OP - Google
nerve sheath tumor dog
There's probably a more technical name for this, but don't know it offhand
(ask your vet) and do some searching.  You may opt for amputation the next
time around if it recurrs.  I suspect this might be curative, but don't
know.  Don't be afraid of making your dog a tripod.  Dogs do well with only
3 legs and since your dog isn't a large breed and is most likely highly
agile, she will do fine.

If you have just tumor surgery done again in the case of recurrence you
might seek out an oncologist or someone who has dealth with this kind of
tumor on a leg before.  With mast cell tumors they found that the more
surgeries a person had done with that specific cancer, the lower the number
of local recurrences.  I think this had to do with taking wider margins,
which again, may be impossible on the leg.

In the meantime, feed good quality food and look into some antioxidants to
add to the food.  Supporting the body in any way you can is important.

Good luck to you and your pup
buglady
take out the dog before replying

Are you sure your dog had the same type of tumor?  The pathology report
described it as "low grade malignancy" and everything I can find on the web
agrees.  It has a low metastatic rate.  For example:

Quoting from http://www.thensome.com/softissue.htm
# GENERAL fact sheet for soft tissue sarcomas
Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are tumours arising from connective tissue
(mesenchyme other than bone) in middle aged to old dogs. They comprise about
15% of all skin tumours, and about 1% of all malignancies. The most common
histological types of STS are fibrosarcomas, haemangiopericytomas,
neurofibrosarcomas, schwanomas (also called malignant peripheral nerve
sheath tumors), and malignant fibrous histiocytomas. Excluded in this group
are tumours of haematopoietic or lymphoid origin and haemangiosarcomas.
Despite the different histological types, STS share similar characteristics:
# arise from any anatomic site in the body
# locally invasive
# recur after conservative excision
# low metastatic rate  <-------------------------- !!!
# poorly responsive to radiation therapy
***

So it's aggressive locally and prone to recur locally, but *not* prone to
metastasize elsewhere if it's treated.   Sounds like buglady's advice was
right on the money: remove it, and if it recurs, consider amputation.

With this I agree.

Nope.  Sorry, but that's wrong.  This type of tumor isn't that likely to
met.  The real problem with it is when it gets into the brachial plexus and
then the spine, which of course means surgery is taken off the table as an
option.  Depending on location, amputation is a valid choice.

Hello Everyone,

Thank you so much for the advice and kind words.   My vet said that the
tumor is likely to grow back (since the margins were not clean) however
this type of cell tissue does not  metastasis in many cases.  Boo Boo
had blood tests and a full body x-ray with two views and everything was
normal and he has lots of energy so we are optimisitic the tumor has
not spread.

Also she consulted with the oncologist and called me back today.  She
said the oncologist only does chemo treatments (here in San Diego).
Radiation is quite effective with this type of tumor,  but it would
have to be done in a clinic in LA.  Basically I would have to leave him
there for 4 weeks of treatment and he would undergo general aneshesia
(for the treatment) 5 days per week.  I find this very difficult for
both me and boo boo.  He is always by my side and I don't think he
would handle this situation well.  Also, the treatment cost is about
5K, which is not something I had budgeted for so soon.  Finally, he is
a tough boy, but I think a full month of all this radiation and drugs
will take a toll on him.

The dr. did mention amputation last week, but she made it sound more
like a last resort if the tumor grows back quickly.

I have not completely decided yet but I am leaning toward just taking a
wait and see approach.  My vet also mentioned she recently operated on
a chow who had the same type of tumor cells removed from her leg and
the latency before re-growth was two years, which sounds encouraging to
me.

I just adopted Boo Boo from a rescue 3 weeks ago so I do not know how
long he had the tumor, how quickly it grew, or if he had previous
surgery.  The doctor seemed to imply the problem is more serious if the
tumor had been removed previously so I hope this is not the case..

Also, I may book an appointment with the oncologist here just to ask
her if there is anything else I can do besides the radiation to help
BooBoo stay healthy.  I started putting a little omega 3 fish oil on
his food (I use this also) as I read this may help prevent cancer
re-growth.  He seems to like the taste, and I would welcome suggestions
for antioxidants or other supplements that might be helpful.

I am feeding him the same food they used in the shelter: Science Diet.
I am not sure how this brand ranks as far as quality goes, but if you
can recommend something better, cost is not as issue for the little
guy.

Again, all your comments have been greatly appreciated.