My Boxer's ear tumor returned, and cancer has spread. What to do?

I'm very sorry to hear that, it's because the tumor was probably not removed entirely or because it is a malignant tumor that has already spread to other places. you will need to take him back to the vet to get it checked and assessed, your vet might tell you that it should not be operated again if he thinks it will keeps growing back.

Sometimes during surgery it is difficult to remove all the cancer cells. Cells are microscopic and unless very wide margins were taken at surgery some cells may have been left behind. It is not necessarily the vet's fault. Cancer is difficult. The same thing happens in humans. Age is not a disease, if she is relatively in good health there is no reason for her to be unable to have surgery.

I’m sorry to hear about Tsunami’s diagnosis. MCTs are quite common in dogs, and unfortunately due to the cell distribution around the primary tumor, incomplete margins are common. If you want to be confident you’re pursuing the best options for the best prognosis, I recommend asking your vet for an oncologist referral. A veterinary oncologist will be the best specialist to be able to present all the options and their given pros & cons, and they have access to chemo medications that most primary vets don’t carry. If you choose not to pursue referral, then I recommend reaching out to your vet again to discuss the next step. If this were my case, I would probably recommend sampling Tsunami’s lymph nodes with a needle to look for evidence of regional metastasis, and based on those findings discuss if a second surgery is appropriate. Hope this helps!

Hello, and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. A needle aspirate is the standard way to get an initial "suspected" diagnosis on a lump, but there are limitations to what a needle sample can tell us. If the cells in the needle sample appear worrisome, then the next diagnostic step is to send in a biopsy (surgical "chunk") of the tumor, or to remove the tumor itself and send the whole thing in to the lab for analysis. So, was removal of the ear necessary? I can't say, I don't know enough about the location or size of the mass. I didn't see the slide from the initial needle aspirate. But if the needle aspirate looked worrisome, and the next step is to remove the tumor or cut a piece of the tumor off, then removing that piece of the ear may have been the only way to find out for sure what the tumor was, and whether surgical removal was curative. Rather than regretting in hindsight that the surgery was done because the histopathology report came back as a histiocytoma, I would be focusing on the good news that Tate doesn't have a malignant mast cell tumor. And removal and lab analysis of the tumor was the only way you could have gotten that news. Hope this helps!

Hello I would check with your veterinarian about doing xrays to see if there is any evidence of spread to her lungs. Also discuss with your veterinarian if all of the mass was removed ("clean margins") or if additional surgery is needed. In some cases if there is no spread of the cancer and it was completely removed do further treatment is needed.

Yes. If the margins were "dirty", then there is the likelihood of tumor regrowth. Another surgery with wider margins may be indicated. If the tumor is malignant, a consult with an veterinary oncologist for follow up treatment is strongly recommended.

A) The likelihood of reoccurrence is higher if the margins are dirty. While it may be categorized as a low grade, it would be helpful to know the mitotic index which is a quantitative measure of mitotic figures observed in the cancer cells. If the mitotic index is high, reoccurrence is more likely. B) If no further treatment is pursued, it may or may not return. C) Prior to any further surgery or treatment you need to have Barney evaluated by a veterinary oncologist to discuss the best treatment options for him.