My dog has a lump, needle aspiration failed. Is biopsy next?

Some types of growths are not able to diagnosed with an aspirate, and require a biopsy for diagnosis. It could be that your vet is concerned that based on the appearance and the way it feels (hard and fixed) that the growth is malignant, and removal is the best option instead of doing an aspirate. More than likely, your vet will send the growth on Koda to the lab for a biopsy after removal. It can happen that the vet decides to remove a growth without doing an aspirate, so this is a normal occurrence.

Hi there. This is often a question of personal preference, because there are pros and cons to doing a needle aspirate beforehand. If the aspirate shows that the tumor is benign (a histiocytoma, or something similar), then it's true that surgery could be avoided. However, if it shows something malignant, like a mast cell tumor, then Harvey will still need surgery and the mass will still have to be sent for histopathology for grading and other information that can't be obtained from an aspirate. Also, it's important to be aware that around 20-25% of needle aspirates come back with inconclusive results - so in that case, you'll need to proceed to a surgical biopsy or surgical removal regardless. So, it's not as clear cut a decision as you might think. For me, I often recommend going straight to surgery for a small, easy-to-remove mass that appears to be growing (or not shrinking) rather than doing an aspirate first, since the aspirate doesn't usually change our plan. But you can certainly discuss this with your veterinarian - I'm sure he would be happy to aspirate the mass before going ahead with surgery, if this is what you prefer.

I would recommend having an biopsy done on the lump on Nanook. There are types malignant cancers that can't be diagnosed with a fine needle aspirate, and can only be diagnosed with a biopsy. It's always important to have any suspicious lumps diagnosed, so in case it is a malignant cancer, it can be treated right away. It does happen that dogs will not show any signs of being sick from cancer until after the cancer has spread or a tumor has ruptured. I think having it biopsied is a good idea.

If the needle aspirate showed fatty cells only, I would monitor it for now. Lipomas (fatty tumors) are typically benign, although in rare instances they can become malignant. If the mass gets larger or it starts causing her problems, then I would have the biopsy done and discuss with the vet possibly removing it.

Hello and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. Unfortunately with some tumors, a biopsy may not reveal what the tumor is. Some tumors can be small with a larger capsule of inflammation or surrounding normal tissue. I have had biopsies come back with no diagnosis but when the entire Mass is sent out for further testing, I get a more definitive answer. This is because with a biopsy you are only taking a tiny portion of the mass in hopes you get a good sample with cells to give you an answer. With removing the mass, there is a larger sample size for the laboratory to come up with an answer for. I hope this helps! Please feel free to contact me if you have any other questions or concerns. I am also available via phone or text consultation

Thank you for your question. The answer is dependent on the growth found. The only growth that would commonly not be recommended for biopsy/that is more easily identified just based on visual appearance would be a lipoma, or fatty tumor https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=5233990 . Most other growths would be sent out unless a previous aspirate was done to determine the type of growth. Otherwise, it is not possible just by gross (with the naked eye) examination to determine the origin of a tumor.

Hi and thanks for posting! If it is a small mass, taking a biopsy may be hard to do. They do need a fairly good and complete piece of tissue to properly evaluate it. Sometimes if small masses are concerning from appearance to your veterinarian, they may recommend just removing it completely and sending off the tissue to a pathologist for evaluation. I hope this helps!