Oral and mammary tumours (Yr 4)

Question 1

what are some clinical signs of oral tumours?

Answer 1

facial swelling
oral bleeding
dysphagia/pain
halitosis
epistaxis
loose teeth
cervical lymphadenopathy

Question 2

how do primary oral tumours usually behave?

Answer 2

locally invasive (radiographs often insensitive to this)

Question 3

which lymph nodes should be sampled for primary oral tumours?

Answer 3

submandibular
retropharyngeal

Question 4

what oral tumours should you image the abdomen as well as the thorax if concerned about metastases?

Answer 4

melanoma (highly metastatic)

Question 5

what are the most common oral tumours of dogs?

Answer 5

malignant melanoma
squamous cell carcinoma
fibrosarcoma
acanthomatous ameloblastoma

Question 6

what are the margins needed for surgical excision of oral melanoma and fibrosarcomas?

Answer 6

large margin (3-5cm) as they are very invasive

Question 7

how do dogs and cats cope with surgical management of oral tumours?

Answer 7

dogs cope very well (feeding tube initially)
cats take longer to adapt (months with feeding tube)

Question 8

what should be done when surgically treating oral fibrosarcomas and squamous cell carcinomas?

Answer 8

follow the surgery with radiotherapy (generally gives better results)

Question 9

what are the complications of oral surgery?

Answer 9

bleeding, infection, incomplete tumour removal, altered cosmetic appearance, difficulty eating. mandibular drift

Question 10

what dogs usually present with oral melanoma?

Answer 10

older smaller breed dogs

Question 11

how do oral melanomas behave?

Answer 11

very locally invasive
highly metastatic

Question 12

how can oral melanomas be diagnosed?

Answer 12

visualisation of melanin containing mesenchymal cells
immunohistochemistry needed for diagnosis

Question 13

what is the prognosis for oral melanomas?

Answer 13

very poor (less than a year)
reoccur within 5 months

Question 14

what is the survival time if there is distant metastasis of a oral melanoma?

Answer 14

<3 months

Question 15

what can be used as an anti-metastatic therapy for oral melanomas?

Answer 15

plasmid vaccine immunotherapy (for stage II and III)

Question 16

what stage of oral melanoma can plasmid vaccine immunotherapy be used for?

Answer 16

stage II and III

Question 17

how do oral squamous cell carcinomas behave?

Answer 17

low metastatic rate (varies with grade)

Question 18

what is the main aim of therapy for oral squamous cell carcinomas?

Answer 18

local therapy (surgery and radiotherapy)

Question 19

what are some medical therapies available for oral squamous cell carcinomas?

Answer 19

piroxicam (NSAID)
can add carboplatin to it

Question 20

how does the metastatic rate of oral SCC compare to tonsillar SCC?

Answer 20

tonsillar are much more metastatic (much poorer prognosis)

Question 21

what dogs are oral fibrosarcomas usually seen in?

Answer 21

middle aged large breeds (golden retriever, labradors)

Question 22

how do oral fibrosarcomas behave?

Answer 22

invasive with low/moderate metastatic risk

Question 23

what are epulides?

Answer 23

non-metastatic lesions arising from gingiva

Question 24

how do acanthomatous ameloblastomas behave?

Answer 24

aggressive local/bone invasion

Question 25

which canine oral tumour has the greatest metastatic risk?

Answer 25

malignant melanoma

Question 26

what is the most common feline oral tumour?

Answer 26

squamous cell carcinoma

Question 27

what are some risk factors for feline oral SCC?

Answer 27

use of flea collars
exposure to smoking
canned foods

Question 28

what is the behaviour of feline oral SCC?

Answer 28

locally invasive with low metastatic risk

Question 29

what is the best treated for feline oral SCC?

Answer 29

surgical resection (recurrence is common)

Question 30

what is the behaviour of feline oral fibrosarcomas?

Answer 30

very locally invasive and low metastasis

Question 31

what is the risk of mammary tumours associated with?

Answer 31

hormone exposure (progestin and oestrogen)
obesity (increased oestrogen levels)
age (older)
breed

Question 32

how can neutering effect the risk of mammary tumours?

Answer 32

neutering prior to oestrus behaviour massively decreases risk
(must be balanced with the risk of urinary incontinence)

Question 33

what are the breeds predisposed to mammary tumours?

Answer 33

poodles, chihuahua, maltese, cocker spaniel, yorkshire terrier
siamese cats

Question 34

when a mammary tumour is found, what should you do?

Answer 34

most will have a second tumour, check the other glands carefully

Question 35

what should be done on pre-surgical assessment of canine mammary tumours?

Answer 35

clinical exam (>3cm have poor prognosis)
local staging (assess lymph nodes, consider draining patterns)
distant staging (metastasis)

Question 36

what surgery is done for low risk mammary tumours?

Answer 36

single mastectomy

Question 37

what surgery is done for high risk mammary tumours?

Answer 37

regional mastectomy

Question 38

what mammary tumour is often mistaken for mastitis?

Answer 38

canine inflammatory carcinoma (very painful)

Question 39

what is the prognosis for canine inflammatory carcinoma?

Answer 39

very poor (palliative treatment)

Question 40

what are the prognostic factors for feline mammary tumours?

Answer 40

tumour size
lymph node metastasis
distant metastasis
breed

Question 41

what surgery is usually done for feline mammary tumours?

Answer 41

chain mastectomy