Hemangiosarcoma in dogs

Hemangiosarcoma in dogs Hemangiosarcoma is an aggressive cancer that arises from blood vessels. Cancer can be anywhere in the body (because the blood vessels occur throughout the body). Hemanga-sarcoma is most commonly found in the spleen, liver and heart. The prognosis is determined by the location of the disease. Although the breed of dog can develop hemangiosarcoma, certain breeds of dogs seem to be most at risk, as the German Shepherd, English Setter and Golden Retriever. We do not know what determines the growth of this type of cancer. The symptoms are usually hemangiosarcoma determined by the location of the disease. Many dogs with cancer in a whole body, showing signs of weakness or intermittent, or even collapse. This is due to a variety of factors. Given that cancer is the production of abnormal blood vessels, these vessels tend to be very weak and subject to losses. Continued growth led to the failure of one of these ships the cancer, the loss of blood. The spleen is the most frequently affected by cancer, and this is an organ that filters the blood, where the distribution of abnormal blood vessels, allowing the "leakage" of blood in the spleen, the abdominal cavity. Causes a rapid loss of blood or weakness collapse. If only a small amount of blood lost, the episode of weakness may be transient, as blood can be absorbed into the body. If a large amount of blood lost, the weakness is so profound that the dog in May of collapse. This may be an emergency situation. Distension of the stomach in may also be observed due to the large volume of free blood in the abdominal cavity. If the cancer is in my heart, bleeding occurs in the sack surrounding the heart, with a compromise the ability of the heart to pump blood efficiently. This can cause weakness and potential collapse. Another problem exists when the tumor blood vessel ruptures. The release of blood into a body cavity that contains the cancer cells, causing the cavity to swim with the tumor cells. That, combined with the ease with which the cancer cells in rupture of abnormal blood vessels, and thus gain access to the rest of the body through the blood, the results of the rapid spread of cancer in the body. This spread of cancer to distant sites are called metastases. This makes widespread metastases to hemangiosarcoma "aggressive" and evil. Often the cancer has metastasized first clinical signs are evident. Where is hemangiosarcoma diagnosed (or suspected), a number of diagnostic tests will be performed at the stage of cancer your dog. Staging allows the veterinarian and the veterinary oncologist in your awareness of the illness of your dog, you can make informed decisions about treatment. A chest radiograph is performed to assess the size of the heart and lungs and the search for metastases. A complete blood count, chemistry profile and urinalysis are obtained to assess the health status of the dog. We can run a group of blood coagulation, in order to assess the ability of the body of your dog to a blood clot. We can also make a scan of the abdomen and! the heart or in the search for metastases. Other tests may be recommended, depending on the circumstances. Treatment for hemangiosarcoma are two ways. The first is often surgery to remove the primary tumor. Sometimes, if there are other sites of metastases are found during diagnostic tests, surgical operations to be of no use. Every time you are tumors that have a high potential of metastasis, chemotherapy is used. Fortunately, chemotherapy in dogs and cats are very different from "chemo" in people. Because we focus on quality of life for our animals is an important factor, we do not want the treatment to be worse than the disease. There are various reasons for which chemotherapy is better tolerated in animals, but the most important factor is psychological. Your dog does not know he had cancer. He also does not know the drugs make people ill, not expected to fall ill. Patients with cancer of a man struck by a phenomenon of anticipatory vomiting, but the dogs do not have this problem. This does not mean that some dogs May effects caused by chemotherapy, but in a few dogs that have side effects, the signs are generally mild and transient. Most breeds of dogs do not lose their hair (which have fur, which grows your hair different). Your veterinarian or a cancer specialist to discuss the possible side effects, with greater length. Unfortunately, hemangiosarcoma is not curable. Dogs with the inclusion of an inteal organ is treated with surgery to live an average of only 2 months. Dogs that are not identifiable metastases at the time of surgery and are treated with chemotherapy live a median of 6 to 10 months. (Median survival means that 50 percent of the dogs live less than this time, and 50 percent live longer.) Some dogs demonstrable metastases May also respond to chemotherapy, providing a service of quality of life compared Dogs are not treated at all. Dogs of this type of cancer found in the subcutaneous tissue (under the skin) lived a median of about 6 months with surgery alone. There have been no studies on the use of chemotherapy for this anatomical location. Hemangiosarcoma can also occur on the skin of dogs. This seems like a form of cancer caused by exposure to the sun and makes a prognosis much better than the inteal form of the disease. Surgical removal of the skin, shape, provided that does not arise as a metastasis of the most aggressive form, provides a disease-free interval of about 1.5 years. New lesions may continue to form, however, because of previous damage or Sunday and continued exposure. New types of treatment are currently under study in the continuing effort to improve the response rate of this dog disease. Once again, the quality of life is still the main objective, and this can be done by close collaboration with your team of veterinarians. General Veterinary above is information. Do not start a course of treatment without consulting your veterinarian. All animals must be reviewed at least once every 12 months.