My dog's neck cancer lump returned after surgery. What to do?

This is not usually how things work, the surgeon cannot know if he managed to remove the tumor with clean borders and this is why it is sent to the lab. i have rarely heard about vet repeating such a surgery for free because the tumor wasn't removed with clean borders. Unfortunately at this point, it sounds as the cancer has spread and it would not make sense to perform surgery in her condition.

Hi and thanks for posting on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Often times skin growths like this one which appears to be a wart like growth do tend to come back even if they have been removed. These usually are nothing to be very worried about but can be a bit unsightly and may grow larger over time. These can be removed surgically or can also be removed by cryotherapy (or cold therapy) which is a less invasive way of removal. I hope this helps and thanks again for posting!

In this case it is very likely that the tumor is aggressive and it is coming back. To be able to give you a specific answer in this case, I would need to have more informations about the tumor (name of it if it was analyzed after removal) and other clinical investigations that have been done (if any).

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach and for looking out for Buddy. I'm not sure from your picture if you're talking about the blackish mass at the front of Buddy's chest, or if he has masses under his skin on his sides. Either way the answer is the same. If the masses are coming back in the same place, then he's either very unlikely or there is local recurrence of the mass. Local recurrence and have been with cancerous growths and also with some more benign types of growths. The appropriate treatment depends on the type of mass that it is. I would recommend asking your veterinarian if he had cytology or histopathology done on the mass for testing (because those would give very different information) and exactly what the growth was. Then you can talk to your veterinarian about the significance of regrowth, or repost a question here if you would like. Another possibility is that he's getting new masses, in similar but not identical places, and it's unrelated to his old masses. For this I would recommend cytology (using a needle to poke the mass while Buddy is awake) at your veterinary office and talking to them about whether removal is needed or not.

I would have this lump checked out on Zeus given that it has grown again. It may be a cyst that needs to be drained and removed, or he may need a longer course of antibiotics. I would bring him into the vet in the morning during normal business hours.

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.

Thanks for the pictures! At 5 months of age (nearly 6!) I doubt very seriously this is cancer, but if an abscess was in this location and is now back it suggests to me that whatever caused the abscess is still there. It's likely that he's going to need a bit of surgery to explore and drain the area. There may be some plant material or other foreign object stuck there, deep under the skin.