Advice Needed!

[Guest mountain4greys]

While we were in Dewey, a friend walked by our room early in the morning, and was petting our brood Rachel. She found a bump on the side of her head going toward her ear. (I swear it wasn't there the night before) The lump is hard, and about an inch long, and half and inch thick.

 

I called our vet and made an appointment, so as soon as we got home we went in. He did a needle aspiration and sent it to the lab.

 

Please keep in mind that Rachel is a little over 12 years old.

 

 

These are the lab results:

 

Cytology

Microscopic Description: Ear/pinna: 2 slides examined. The sample is low in cellularity with moderate hemodilution. It consists of rare small collections of spindle-shaped cells with few individual spindle to oval cells, which exhibit mild anisocytosis and anisokaryosis. The cells contain lightly basophilic, wispy to discritely vacuolated cytoplasm with small to moderately sized nuclei. Nuclei are round to oval and contain course, clumped chromatin and small, yet distinct nucleoli.

 

Microscopic findings: Mild proliferation of mesenchymal cells.

 

Comment: The mesenchymal population could be reactive but cannot rule out poorly exfoliating neoplasia. Recommended biopsy and hisyopathology to rule out neoplasia.

 

Report Notes: Mass Ear Area / Pinna

 

 

I don't have a clue what this means. Is it cancer, is it fast moving? Is it something that because of her age I should just leave alone?

 

Thanks for any input you have in advance.

Edited November 1, 2011 by mountain4greys

[mychip1]

No answers....just good thoughts!!!

[Batmom]

could be reactive but cannot rule out poorly exfoliating neoplasia. Recommended biopsy and hisyopathology to rule out neoplasia.

 

Could be cancer, but could also be a noncancerous lump. The doc who wrote this can't tell you and is suggesting a tissue biopsy.

 

Hoping it's some type of infection or other easily treated thing. Keep us posted, OK?

 

 

[dixidoll]

I do not have any ideas but hope that this means it is not malignant. Maybe they do not have to totaly put her under to do the surgery if needed. Bumping so that this get seen on the top of the list.

[Guest mountain4greys]

could be reactive but cannot rule out poorly exfoliating neoplasia. Recommended biopsy and hisyopathology to rule out neoplasia.

 

Could be cancer, but could also be a noncancerous lump. The doc who wrote this can't tell you and is suggesting a tissue biopsy.

 

Hoping it's some type of infection or other easily treated thing. Keep us posted, OK?

 

 

 

Thanks Batmom. I always look to your advice. Will keep everyone updated.

 

 

 

[Guest aptaks]

I'm sorry that I don't know what this means. But I have to ask, why did you get Lab results but no explanation from your Vet? I would get on the phone and demand answers. Best of luck to you and Rachel. I'm keeping good thoughts for you.

[Houndtime]

I would ask you vet to explain the lab report. Good thoughts for you and your girl.

[joejoesmom]

I just wanted to say that if it is a spindle cell cancer, it is often treatable. I would see if I could get the slides and send them to OSU for them to look at. If you go ahead with the biopsy, get the slides or at least the results sent to the Greyhound team at OSU. They will look review and respond with an email for no charge. If it does turn out to be spindle cell, they have some treatment options available that not all oncologists are aware of.

 

I run a sort of Ronald McDonald house for greys and their owners who need to come to OSU. I was involved with a grey who had a spindle cell tumor on his leg. There were several options: One was to remove the mass (this had already been done but it came back because they couldn't get clean margins) and do radiation -- this is the "old" standard treatment, usually effective but costly and involved 20 radiation treatments with anesthesia each time. The second was to remove the mass and do a local chemo agent called 5FU. This is much less costly and only requires mild sedation. Dr. Couto has had good results with this (as good as with radiation), but it is not published yet. The third (obviously not an option for you) was to remove the leg. I don't know if the location in your case would be an issue.

 

I am hoping and praying that it turns out to be nothing to worry about.

 

Here is the website for submitting a consult request:

 

https://greyhound.osu.edu/consultationservice/

 

If you decide to come to OSU for a visit, please let me know. I would be happy to help with accommodations and logistics.

 

Jane

[Guest Swifthounds]

Keep in mind that FNAs are dependent on what particular cells they aspirate, so if they find identifiable cancer it's a relatively non-invasive way to diagnose, but unfortunately the absence if a clear finding of cancerous cells doesn't mean there isn't cancer.

 

At 13 years old my Comet got a growth on a toe. It didn't go down so off the the vet. FNA showed abnormal cells and the oncologists opinion was that it was either benign or a locally aggressive tumor sarcoma that wouldn't likely spread if it hadn't already. We did bloodwork an ultrasound and chest x rays - all if which came back clear. The choice for us was three: leave it, biopsy, or remove the growth and the toe. It was causing him issues getting around and a biopsy would have almost the same healing time as the removal, and then we might have to decide to do the removal anyway, so we skipped the biopsy.

 

In the end, the histo revealed it wasn't cancer, but he was walking better three days post amp than he was with the growth while we waited to see if it would resolve on it's own. I don't know that I would have ever done the biopsy just to get a better answer and if it wasn't something that interfered with his daily life, I might have left it altogether.

[tbhounds]

Spindle cell tumors are typically malignant however, don't tend to spread to other parts of the body-- they can be locally invasive. Because of the location (pinna) I would suggest a punch biopsy ( if we are a good pup maybe a local can be used with a light sedative). You'll get a more accurate path report with a biopsy. Fingers crossed that you'll receive a benign report.

[joejoesmom]

I just wanted to say that if it is a spindle cell cancer, it is often treatable. I would see if I could get the slides and send them to OSU for them to look at. If you go ahead with the biopsy, get the slides or at least the results sent to the Greyhound team at OSU. They will look review and respond with an email for no charge. If it does turn out to be spindle cell, they have some treatment options available that not all oncologists are aware of.

 

I run a sort of Ronald McDonald house for greys and their owners who need to come to OSU. I was involved with a grey who had a spindle cell tumor on his leg. There were several options: One was to remove the mass (this had already been done but it came back because they couldn't get clean margins) and do radiation -- this is the "old" standard treatment, usually effective but costly and involved 20 radiation treatments with anesthesia each time. The second was to remove the mass and do a local chemo agent called 5FU. This is much less costly and only requires mild sedation. Dr. Couto has had good results with this (as good as with radiation), but it is not published yet. The third (obviously not an option for you) was to remove the leg. I don't know if the location in your case would be an issue.

 

I am hoping and praying that it turns out to be nothing to worry about.

 

Here is the website for submitting a consult request:

 

https://greyhound.os...ltationservice/

 

If you decide to come to OSU for a visit, please let me know. I would be happy to help with accommodations and logistics.

 

Jane

 

I should have commented that this was an unusually aggressive spindle cell tumor. It had been removed twice (but without clean margins) and continued to grow at a fast pace. It was the opinion of all oncologists to treat the tumor, especially as the dog was fairly young (8, I believe).

 

I'm sorry if my post scared you. I really should have explained better.

 

Jane

[Guest mountain4greys]

That ok Jane. I went back and talked to the vet today. He's very concerned this isn't going to be good. But he agrees we need to find out exactly what it is. I have to call him back on Monday, as they are going to try and bump someone so we can get in this week to have a biopsy done. They will give her a local, so we won't have to knock her all the way out.

 

His real concern is that if the tumor were removed, they would also have to take her ear off to. My personal feelings on that is that she's to old to go through such an ordeal. But we'll see what the biopsy says first.

[joejoesmom]

That ok Jane. I went back and talked to the vet today. He's very concerned this isn't going to be good. But he agrees we need to find out exactly what it is. I have to call him back on Monday, as they are going to try and bump someone so we can get in this week to have a biopsy done. They will give her a local, so we won't have to knock her all the way out.

 

His real concern is that if the tumor were removed, they would also have to take her ear off to. My personal feelings on that is that she's to old to go through such an ordeal. But we'll see what the biopsy says first.

 

I just wanted to add that Dr. Couto said that the best results with the 5FU (or radiation) are when the gross tumor is removed. However, it can still help even if the tumor is not removed. But of course I am hoping that it is not malignant and we are all worrying over nothing.

 

Jane

[EllenEveBaz]

Just adding lots of crossed paws for Rachel.

[dixidoll]

Hey Jimmy, Let us know when you get some information on rachel. We care.

[Guest Swifthounds]

Just checking back.

[Guest mountain4greys]

Thanks to all of you! This is the first REAL major thing that we've had to deal with. We've been blessed to have 6 very happy and healthy hounds.

 

Rachel is still bouncing around and eating very well, as I would expect her to. My vet can't do the biopsy until next week. He has to go away this weekend, and didn't want to do it this week because of his trip. When he does the biopsy, he wants to be around the days following it.

 

In the meantime, at least so far, the bump has not changed.

 

I'll keep everyone posted.

 

[tbhounds]

What a beautiful picture! Keep us posted!

[Guest pinky425]

Hoping you will get good news when they can get you in. Fingers crossed.

[MP_the4pack]

She's beautiful. I hope everything works out positively. There's enough bad news lately.

[Guest mountain4greys]

Rachel went and had a biopsy done this morning. Poor thing is resting, she's such a trooper. We'll know the results by the beginning of the week. Please keep your fingers crossed for a good outcome.

[MP_the4pack]

[Guest mountain4greys]

Just got the biopsy results back. Still a little confused, and the vet wasn't sure if and when the lump would get bigger. He still feels that if it were removed, the would take the ear off and still have to do reconstructive surgery. Thoughts?

 

This is what the report says:

 

Microscopic Description: Examined are sections derived from one received 0.3 cm punch biopsy specimen of tissue with no natural

surface expanded by a declineated mass composed of fairly bland mesenchymal cells with indistinct cell

borders and oval nuclei with indistinct nucleoli and mild anisokaryosis. Neoplastic cells are supported by

chondroid matrix with formation of variably sized lacunae. Mitoses are rare. Neoplastic tissue extends to

margins.

 

Microscopic Findings: Chondrosarcoma, low grade, base of ear.

 

Comment: This is a well differentiated, low grade cartilaginous neoplasm. These tumors can be locally infiltrative, but they are at low risk

for metastasis. No overt invasion is seen on the examined sections.

 

Report Notes: Mass Base of Ear

[Tallgreydogmom]

Can you take her up to Ohio State? I have two experiences with spindle cell cancer. I was told and saw: it is agressive, should be removed early for best results.

 

I would take the greyhound not having an ear than letting the spindle cell grow.

[Guest BrianRke]

Hey Jimmy, sorry to hear you guys are going through this. Like others have said, I would get a second opinion on the course of treatment. OSU is probably your best bet.

 

Sending good thoughts and well wishes.