Cancer Or Fungal?

[Guest darcysmama]

Hi everyone - I'm new here but see that you have a lot of knowledge! I adoped my boy about 4 years ago, and well over a year ago he was diagnosed with nasal cancer after he developed a lot of discharge, swelling in the muzzle area, and an x-ray showed bone destruction. We were told that even radiation would give him only a couple more months so we opted to just love him as long as we could. A year later, he is still happy and with us, acting like a normal dog, however, now the swelling on his face has subsided, and he has a lesion that "oozes" in that area. Our vets are at a bit of a loss, but are now thinking there's a slim possibility it could be fungal, and are treating him with itracanazole (Sporanox). We live in Canada, and there's little experience with fungal infections that might mimic a cancer like this. Has anyone ever heard of anything like this? Any thoughts would be welcome!

[Guest Kipsmom]

My sisters dog, a non-greyhound, had something similar. The vet just knew it was cancer. She went to Auburn University and had her tested. Her regular vet couldn't do it or didn't know. It did turn out to be fungal. It can be mimicked to look like cancer.

 

I hope the meds work!!!

[ahicks51]

From:

 

http://www.mold-survivor.com/canines.html

 

Aspergillosis:

 

"Aspergillosis is a fungal infection seen in mostly young dogs--in particular, those breeds with a long nose. The fungus affects the nasal chambers but lesions can occur in several organs, including the eye. More and more cases are being reported due to housing problems with toxigenic moulds. It first begins in the posterior region of the nasal cavity with a nasal discharge that may last for months before becoming purulent and bloody. Nasal pain, sneezing and lethargy accompany these symptoms, and as the disease progresses the fungus may destroy and replace the spongy nasal passages with masses of fungi growth. If not diagnosed and treated, the fungi continue to grow into the cranium and the soft tissue around the eye. Since diagnosis of the disease from culture is not always easy, microscopic evaluations of the fungus from areas of the nasal cavities and membranes is also needed for positive identification. Radiographs may show tissue destruction since frontal sinus osteomyelitis will be apparent. Treatment of aspergillosis with systemic drugs and sometimes surgical scraping of the nasal passages is involved, expensive, and of long duration. Iodine flushes have been used with some success followed by systemically administered drags such as ketoconazole, thiabendazole, or itraconazole."

 

There are several types of fungal infections known from canines, but aspergillosis sounds like a real contender from what you describe.

 

A biopsy should be performed.

[Greytlady94]

Ohio State University does a lot of greyhound study. You or your vet can call or e-mail with questions to see if they have dealt with this. Dr. Couto at OSU

 

Sending prayers for your boy.

[patricia]

Sending many prayers that this is in fact fungal. Please...contact Dr. Couto.

[Guest darcysmama]

Thanks so much for the input - and prayers too - it gives me a bit of hope that maybe this could be fungal, that can maybe be cured. I should add, that at the very beginning of all this a biopsy was done, but it couldn't identify either they type of cancer, or whether fungus of some sort was present. It just doesn't seem to be behaving like any type of cancer that the vets have seen. Maybe a msg to Dr Couto could help shed some light on this too!

[ahicks51]

There is a good group of veterinary mycologists at U. Wisc-Madison.

 

http://www.vetmed.wisc.edu/students/vetmycology/index.html

 

Their charge for out-of-state analysis of a fungal sample is $16.50, and $13.50 for identification- although I'm not sure that would cover your exact problem. The $45 AGID fungal serology panel seems to be specific for slow-growing fungi, including aspergillus. I don't know what the equivalent would be in Canada in terms of vet schools that do that kind of testing- nor do I know if there are any restrictions on shipping lab samples like aspergillus internationally.

 

http://www.wvdl.wisc.edu/Fees.aspx

 

Their phone help is infallible.

 

You'll want to read this as well:

 

http://www.aspergillus.org.uk/indexhome.ht...anine.html~main

 

Note that oral anti-fungals are ~50% effective; other treatments, such as nasal washes with anti-fungals, seem to be more effective. If it does turn out to be aspergillus, you should probably print that out and take it to your vet. Way down at the bottom, there's a link to a table that refers to the different techniques and their efficacy. Click on "table of therapies for canine nasal aspergillosis"

 

Note some are reported to be 80% or better. The easy route (oral anti-fungals) are rather less effective.

Edited August 27, 2007 by ahicks51

[Guest snowberry]

More background reading on fungal infections:

 

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.js...tm/bc/51108.htm

 

There are links at the bottom to other types of fungal diseases.

 

Good luck with getting a clear diagnosis!