Mast cell tumour

[MrsT1704]

I am posting here because I feel absolutely heartbroken. My seven-year-old labrador has just been diagnosed with a mast cell tumour. It's on his front leg and it looks like they cannot operate because of its location. My 12-year-old daughter is in bits because he is limping. She doesn't even know it's cancer yet. I'm absolutely heartbroken. He is struggling to walk today and it's breaking my heart. Any one had experience of this or any positive stories?

How wretched.
Look up THC oil, it’s an extract of cannabis, legal in some countries but illegal here unfortunately. It was recommended to me when my bichon had cancer (as a cancer inhibitor). She was elderly but she survived a few more years and eventually died of something else.
I’ve heard chemo for dogs is very tough, if you go down that route.

Thank you, I will look into that. Im hoping something will help. The lump is internal and growing and he is unable to walk today. He just about managed to hobble outside. I was so hopeful it wasnt anything malignant and his blood tests came back very clear so this hit me like a ton of bricks.

His inability to walk is worrying me at the moment but will give him a fee rest days to see if it gets better. He is still into his food though so thats positive and any mention of treats and he is up. We have been through so much lately and this feels like one thing too much.

My dog had a mast cell tumor, located on his side. They were able to remove but much like skin cancer in humans, they had to remove about an inch either side of the tumor. It hadn't spread, thankfully and no further tumors. I believe they are slowing growing. Good luck, it was quite a scary time for us.

Thats great to hear. It is so worrying isn't it. They are part of the family.

The vet I spoke to didnt sound very positive that they would be able to do it because of where it is (on his front leg). She also mentioned amputation but said she wouldn't recommend it because of his age.

She seemed to be leaning towards pallative care whilst looking for spread but there is also an option to be referred to a specialist oncologist which I think is the route I will go down to be honest.

So sorry to hear that. Sadly labs are known for it. We had a mast cell removed from ddogs abdomen, but it was surface and so they were able to take it with margins.
Definitely worth talking to a specialist OP, your dog maybe senior but not elderly yet.

There is an injection called Stelfonta which can be used in mast cell tumours where surgery is not possible. We have had success with it in the past 😊 (veterinary nurse)

Thanks so much for this information! I can't tell you how much I appreciate this. I will ask the vet about this next week

Our doodle had mast cell tumours since the age of 6 (he died last month just after turning 12 in the summer.

His first was on his face, and had radical surgery to remove it back to healthy margins and reconstruction. He was left with a rather handsome Billy Idol sneer!

But after the first path results showed cells in his lymph nodes, we had to be realistic that spread was almost inevitable. Fortunately, a childhood best mate is a brilliant vet, so walked me through the results (they’d actually been a tutor of our local vet!) and explained probable outcomes.

Cue 6 years of surgeries where we were playing Whack-a-mole with tumours across his body.

Sadly, in early summer, he developed a fast growing tumour again in his face, that quickly grew down his neck, threatening his trachea, and unfortunately began to have respiratory distress and we had him PTS In September.

There are new chemotherapy regimes that target mast cell tumours (sadly the Humph’s final tumour was so virulent it was outside the treatment size within a few days); if they’d been available 6 years ago our vet believes we could’ve had a better prognosis.

Our boy had a fabulous life, and was the greatest doggo ever, taking his surgeries in his stride. Mast cell tumours are not uncommon in labs and lab crosses (according to our vet).

I can’t tell you what the outcome will be for your Pupper, I can only tell you about our experience, but as I said, there are better chemotherapy treatments available now that target the tumours. But we did have 6 brilliant years after his first tumour.

Sending all love x

Have you been given a grade on the pathology report? Mast Cell Tumours are graded using Patnaik and Kiupel grading systems.

My 8 year old Staffie had a high grade 3 cutaneous MCT removed by our usual vet in August - we were advised by them that palliative care was likely the kindest route but they could refer us for chemo if we wanted.

I went away and did a lot of reading and requested a referral to a specialist oncologist - we went with North Downs Specialist Referrals in Surrey. When we had our appointment with the oncologist 2 weeks later, the MCT had metastasised throughout her lymph nodes - she had a large 4cm lump growing bigger by the day protruding from under her collar which looked awful and so uncomfortable. She was given a 2-6 month prognosis. Our oncologist decided to start her on Masivet and Prednisolone, and I started her on 4mg chlorphenamine (Piriton) x2 daily.

Within 2 weeks the tumours had disappeared completely. At her 6 week check 2 weeks ago, we were told she is in remission. The plan is to keep her on the Masivet for the next 18 months. The oncologist did warn us that the disease can become resistant to the medication and tumours could start to grow again, at which point we will swap the Masivet to Palladia.

I hope Fraia's story can give you some hope - I was desperately searching for positive stories when I first had her diagnosis.

I would push for an oncology appointment asap - I highly recommend North Downs Specialist Referrals, we travel from Wales for our appointments there. If the tumour is a high grade, I recommend requesting c-kit testing ASAP as this is what the oncologist will recommend - means you are a couple of weeks ahead while you wait for the appointment. If the MCT is positive for c-kit mutation, this will dictate what treatment pathway is most appropriate for your dog.

There are some great FB support groups, although I will caveat by saying please do your own research and some on there have strong opinions which aren't necessarily evidence based! Some I am part of are:

• Pet Parents of Mast Cell Tumour Dogs
• Mast cell tumours in dogs support group
• Holistic Help for Dogs with Mast Cell Cancer - Cleo's Protocol

My dog follows the diet part of Cleo's protocol (cottage cheese/salmon oil, meat protein and low carb veg, as well as antihistamine) but not the medication part, neither do I use topicals. This group are very anti-chemo and other medications which I do not agree with, but I do find their diet recommendations useful.

Please feel free to PM me if you want to chat further. I am 2.5 months into this diagnosis and have tried to learn as much as I possibly can about it so I am in the best position to make good decisions for my girl. It was an awful and overwhelming few days while we got our heads around the diagnosis, so I know how heartbreaking things must feel for you right now. Wishing you and your lovely dog all the best luck

Thanks so much for posting this. I am so sorry to hear about your lovely dog but glad you had many more years with him. Its positive to hear that there are new chemotherapy treatments which gives me some more hope. Thanks so much, it really does help to hear others experiences

My only advice is that (from bitter experience), MCTs can become incredibly nasty quite quickly and are very unpredictable. If it is an option I’d request a referral to a specialist oncologist asap. I had palliative chemo for mine (post surgery) - and actually he did well on it- but not for long. Diagnosis to PTS was about 6 months. Sorry I don’t have a more positive experience to share.

I wish you lots of doggy love and cuddles and sorry you are having such a bad time 💐

I'm so sorry you're going through this, it breaks your heart doesn't it?

Our dog, who sadly passed at the age of ten, was absolutely riddled with mast cell tumours and had many operations over the years. She was also a breed that is particularly prone to them. She had one on her front leg that the vet was also wary of operating on as there is so little spare skin there to close over the wound. It wasn't affecting her walking too badly but we knew that would come, so took the risk of operating knowing that the wound could burst open due to the lack of skin and how tightly it has to be pulled.

Thankfully the vet was extremely skilled and it worked perfectly - our gorgeous girl got another two years after that.

I'm not sure if the skin issue is relevant in your case but if it is, hopefully this will give you a little hope that it can be done 💐

Sorry to hear about your dog. We have a lab who had a really nasty big subcutaneous mast cell tumour on top of his head in 2020 (not the normal wart type mast cell tumour). He had a big op to remove it and then when it came back, rather than another op which would have meant losing his ear and a fair amount of cheek/neck tissue, we started on a pretty high dose of Masivet, then tapered this down to a maintenance dose in around 2022 which he is still on now. I'm delighted he is still healthy, tumour free and still with us heading into 2024 as for a while in 2020/21 I didn't think he'd make it this far.

@frayble Thanks so much. So much useful information in your post. This was the results of the FNA test:

"These cytologic findings are consistent with aspirations of mast cell tumors. Canine mast cell tumors (MCT) exhibit a wide range of biologic behavior. There is only minimal to mild cytologic atypia observed in the neoplastic mast cell population from the medial antebrachium, which suggests a low-grade tumor, as based on a 2016 publication establishing cytologic criteria and a tumor grading scheme for canine cutaneous MCT. However, the mast cell populations from the medial, lateral, and dorsal carpus display significant cytologic atypia, raising concern for a high-grade tumor, as based on a 2016 publication establishing cytologic criteria and a tumor grading scheme for canine cutaneous MCT. This cytologic grading scheme does not replace the histologic grading schemes, which best assess tissue architecture, mitotic count, and remain part of the gold standard for predicting canine cutaneous MCT behavior. It is important to recognize the following limitations of MCT cytologic grading: 1. Cytology cannot distinguish cutaneous MCT (histologically graded) from subcutaneous MCT (not histologically graded). 2. Evidence to establish the cytologic grading scheme was based on using a modified Wright’s stain (or similar) for slide evaluation and not an aqueous-based rapid stain (used in most “in-house” hospital settings), which can sometimes give more variable staining of cytoplasmic granules that cannot be subsequently corrected by restaining. 3. A subset of tumors deemed low-grade on either cytology or histology can still manifest an aggressive clinical course."

Going to talk to the vet about it more on Monday as I can not get my head around it but due to the high grade will ask about the c-kit testing. I have also joined the Facebook groups you recommended thanks.

They have offered a referral to an oncologist and I will keep North Down Specialist in mind (we are in Wales too). You have definitely given me more hope and I may PM you if I have any further questions. It's so hard. Thank you.

Thanks to everyone who has replied and given advice. It is really appreciated. Lots to think about and to discuss with the vets tomorrow x

@MrsT1704 @OhMrDarcy All of The Humph’s tumours were subcutaneous too, no wart type lesions.

For his second tumour removal op, a couple of years after the first, he had 3 removed from his chest/front.

Except 2 weren’t tumours… they were fat deposits! Over a thousand pounds for doggy liposuction 😂.

Just had a specialist oncologist appointment and its not good. The vet thinks its metastatic because his lymph node on that side is also enlarged. Going to do full tests tomorrow to stage the cancer and then probably looking at chemo. Could have a few months to a year 💔

I'm really sorry to hear that. This is the same position I was in with my girl in August. Has the vet suggested a treatment plan or started your dog on any treatment yet? We started Prednisolone, Piriton and Masivet the same day, which made an immediate difference to the size of the tumours.

Our dog had this the cancer was wrapped around his ligament, he was diagnosed at 7.. limping etc and about 2 months later stopped limping and kept an eye on it for his whole life and he lived to 13.

I really thought we'd loose him earlier but the cells just stoped growing, we watched for pain and he was a happy dog, exercising, running and loving his best life.

It was the cancer that caused us having to pts as eventually did grow again, but we had another 6 years with him.

So keep hope.

So sorry to read your heartbreaking update. Hope any treatment goes well . They are so very precious 💔

@wellthisisakward thats such a positive story. Thanks for sharing. Will hopefully have the results tomorrow and I am crossing everything that its not as extensive as they think it is

Keep us posted and hoping our old boy is watching out for him 😊

My 14 year old had one last year, like PP on the side of his back so relatively easy to remove. It was stage one (scar still looked awful - they removed a large ice cream scoop size) so no further treatment needed. If it had been grade three or four and required chemo I wouldn't have done it.

Any update on your pup @MrsT1704 ?

I've been thinking of you and keeping everything crossed 🤞 that pup is doing well and things aren't as bad as first thought.

It wasn't good news unfortunately. The cancer has metastasised to his lymph node and the oncologists said he will likely have around 6-12 months with chemo. Not spread to his liver and spleen, thankfully. I couldn't stop crying last week but I am dealing with it better this week and trying to enjoy him whilst also recognising that there are some positive stories like yours. I have not given up hope.

I joined the Facebook groups but got so overwhelmed but I've had to mute them. I have read the cancer survival guide and watched Dr sue the cancer vet videos to inform myself.

He is on steroids now and is walking well and comfortable. You wouldn't know there was anything wrong if you looked at him.

Thanks for asking