Article In October Dog World Magzine On Ostosarcoma

[Guest kydie]

Posting because I know this is a great concern:

 

The new issue of Dog World Magzine has written:

 

Amputating the affected limb is one method of treating osetosarcoma. However, today the possibility that a dog may keep its legs are greater than it once was. Limb sparing is an alternative treatment that allows some dogs to avoid amputation. The diseased bone is removed and replaced by bone taken from a bone bank. A few doses of radiation help control the pain associated with the early stages of cancer by directly killing tumor and inflammatory cells FYI

[Guest Energy11]

Thanks for posting. I believe in limb-sparing, ALTHOUGH, amputation is an alternative for a lot of people, whom I respect greatly. It is just not for me or mine.

 

I love all of them ... and if amputation helps, that is great! If limb-sparing treatment helps, that is great as well! No matter whether one opts to amputate, or do palliative care, CANCER still STINKS!

 

I am always grateful for any new info, so, thanks!

[Guest IrskasMom]

I am sure Dr. Couto will /has seen that Article in Dog World Magazine to. Limb sparing is a great Idea but in the

Beginning Stages. Amputation is probably the most effective Treatment to that Type of Cancer and even then the odds

for total Cure are very slim. Personaly I do not opt for Amputation .

Edited August 12, 2009 by IrskasMom

[Guest LANDOLISA]

From our experience, we will never opt for amputation again. So sorry Lando, we are so sorry.

[Remolacha]

I was just reading that article. Sounded interesting, but I would imagine there isn't much availability of substitute bones, at this point.

 

 

[greytluck]

I was at a talk Dr Couto did here in Ontario around a year ago. He mentioned bone sparring at that time and if I remember correctly it didn't seem like an option he recommended. No matter what route you go, there just doesn't seem to be any perfect solution.

[dmswartzfager]

It was an option suggested to me when I took Tyler to OSU back in October of 2006. Unfortunately, it became a moot point when they did the pre-surgery body scan and found the lymph nodes and spleen had already become involved with the cancer.

[Burpdog]

It's not really new. Dr. Couto talked about it the first time I heard him speak. At that time, it was not his first choice. Will be interesting to see if he mentions it on Saturday.

[MP_the4pack]

I thought I saw something like that on Emergency Vets. It was done on a Rottie.

 

Not sure, since it's been a long time since they had new episodes.

 

[Guest Energy11]

From our experience, we will never opt for amputation again. So sorry Lando, we are so sorry.

I know this if off topic, BUT, I lived and worked in Parkersburg! It was 1992/93. I worked as a reporter/photographer for The Parkersburg News! I was there the year you guys had that HUGE snowfall! Wonderful area, and I miss it, but my DH at the time wanted to live in Florida ... (GAG)!!!!! I HATED that place.

 

 

[jenn8]

... but I would imagine there isn't much availability of substitute bones, at this point.

Wouldn't it be ironic if they decided to use greyhounds as donors?

 

 

I just made that up. No truth to it.

 

Jenn

[MaryJane]

Back in 2004 when my boy got Osteo I checked for a limb-sparing procedure before I went for the amputation. At that time, the only place doing research with limb-sparing was someplace in Denver. Their procedure was to take the section that had the brittle bad bone and replace it with a metal plate. If the bone was completely destroyed or it was too close to the end, then it couldn't be done. In my boy's case, it was too close to the end.

 

It's interesting that they are replacing the whole bone with a "donor bone". I wonder if there is any reaction to it as a "foreign body" and if it would mean a dog would have to be on immuno-suppressants for the rest of their life.

 

 

 

 

[Guest kydie]

Good question, in the Dog World article there are whole list of Veterinary Universities Caner Resources, and a part about Participating in clinical trials

[Hawthorn]

I'd want to know where the "donor bones" come from. They do this procedure at a hospital local to me and I've always wondered where they get the bones from. My worst fear would be that they get them from "donated" greyhounds.

[jetcitywoman]

I'm just speculating, but I see a bright future for this kind of thing. I saw a show on tv the other day where they were talking about scientists growing human tissue in petri dishes/jars, and they were able to grow replacement *parts* like ears, veins, etc. They had some sort of mesh foundation structure, and put treated human cells on it and made it grow. The foundation is what made the tissue grow into the shape of the thing they wanted, like the ear or the vein. They also said that the donor tissue can come from the person who needs the organ, so that there is absolutely no rejection once the organ is transplanted back into the person.

 

I'm a big ethics person who abhors things like cloning, but this breakthrough thrilled me. I would much rather be able to grow my own store of replacement parts by donating tissue than by having myself cloned or taking donation parts from dead people. Anyway, I mention this because if they aren't doing this yet for the donated bones for this limb-sparing procedure in dogs, they sure can in the future.

 

Bio-engineering is a really fast-advancing field right now, although it's not well known in lay-circles. For example, I have had arthritis my whole life and my ankles were the first to go. When I was a kid I wanted ankle replacements, but everything we learned and every doctor we talked to said that the procedure had abysmal success rates. The epoxies being used were rejected by the body and caused infections and basically most of them were abject failures. So I waited. Thirty years later, a doctor suddenly mentioned the possibility to me, and referred me to who I later learned was one of the leaders in new ankle replacement surgical techniques. I did it and have loved it ever since! They've ditched the epoxies. Now they have special metal that has a mesh-like surface and your bone actually grows right into the metal. How freaking magical is that? My ankle is going on 6 years old now and showing no signs of rejection or pulling loose from the bone. This gives me huge hopes for the tissue-growing research that they're doing now too!