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dollydoodle · 06-02-2013, 09:21 AM

Dolly, 9, had a red bump on her chest for 5-6 years. Other vets had dismissed it. While in for teeth cleaning last week the vet said he was very concerned & he removed it, sent it in for testing & confirmed it was a Grade 1 mast cell tumor. He says it's recommended that 2 cm. around a tumor should be removed but in 3.5 lb. Dolly that'd be impossible. He still suggests going in again & cutting out more tissue from the area.
The test results say: "In examined sections the mass is completely excised with a nearest clean lateral margin of 0.1 cm and nearest clean deep margin of 0.2 cm."
"While complete (optimal lateral margins of 2 cm) excision may prove curative, these tumors do have the potential to recur locally if not widely excised."
Does anyone have experience with anything like this? (Darn, why didn't he remove a little more to begin with? This "bump" looks exactly like photos of these tumors.) The whole tumor has been removed, how much is there to gain by removing just as bit more? (Seems to me between the skin & bone on her chest there's just about nothing to remove.)
BTW, "removing more" involves x-rays, ultrasound, needle aspirations, all the lab work involved, plus the more invasive surgery. Even with additional surgery there are chances it will return, or has/will appear somewhere else in her little body.
Dolly has always been the picture of health-it kills me to think there could be cancer problems in her future & I don't want to put her through unnecessary surgery. I don't want to be cheap, but is extra surgery really necessary? Have any of you had any experience/knowledge with this?
Thank you so much for any advice you can give.
Annie (& Dolly!)

06-02-2013, 09:21 AM	#1
dollydoodle Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 1,154	Mast cell tumor Grade 1 Dolly, 9, had a red bump on her chest for 5-6 years. Other vets had dismissed it. While in for teeth cleaning last week the vet said he was very concerned & he removed it, sent it in for testing & confirmed it was a Grade 1 mast cell tumor. He says it's recommended that 2 cm. around a tumor should be removed but in 3.5 lb. Dolly that'd be impossible. He still suggests going in again & cutting out more tissue from the area. The test results say: "In examined sections the mass is completely excised with a nearest clean lateral margin of 0.1 cm and nearest clean deep margin of 0.2 cm." "While complete (optimal lateral margins of 2 cm) excision may prove curative, these tumors do have the potential to recur locally if not widely excised." Does anyone have experience with anything like this? (Darn, why didn't he remove a little more to begin with? This "bump" looks exactly like photos of these tumors.) The whole tumor has been removed, how much is there to gain by removing just as bit more? (Seems to me between the skin & bone on her chest there's just about nothing to remove.) BTW, "removing more" involves x-rays, ultrasound, needle aspirations, all the lab work involved, plus the more invasive surgery. Even with additional surgery there are chances it will return, or has/will appear somewhere else in her little body. Dolly has always been the picture of health-it kills me to think there could be cancer problems in her future & I don't want to put her through unnecessary surgery. I don't want to be cheap, but is extra surgery really necessary? Have any of you had any experience/knowledge with this? Thank you so much for any advice you can give. Annie (& Dolly!)