Dave

Dave – a five-year-old, male neutered pug – presented to us with an inflamed mass on his right lip which a biopsy confirmed as a cutaneous mast cell tumour.

 

A computed tomography (CT) of his chest and abdomen, and sampling of his lymph nodes, liver and spleen under general anaesthesia was performed to assess for metastatic spread which was sadly confirmed in multiple lymph nodes around his neck.

Dave was started on multiple medications, such as steroids and anti-histamines, to reduce the inflammation associated with the mass and to reduce the histamines released by this type of cancer cell. Surgery was then undertaken to remove the mass with large margins, and also to remove the metastatic lymph nodes and the cancer’s draining lymph nodes – seven in total. Surgery went well with cancer-free margins being obtained, and it had the added bonus of giving Dave a quirky lopsided ‘smile’.

A chemotherapy protocol was then commenced using a drug called vinblastine weekly to two weekly over three months. Dave did brilliantly at tolerating this, as long as bribery in the form of liver treats was involved, and completed the course and tapered off his other medications without significant side effects.

Remission rates are variable for this cancer but nearly a year later, Dave is still cancer free and back to causing mischief with his human sisters.

Return to Medicine cases