Has anyone got any info on rhabdomyosarcoma/fibrosarcoma?

[karensharp6]

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Last year i found a lump in my Boxer Dog shoulder, to which the vet removed it & had it tested & it came back that it was a maglinant tumour Rhabdomyosarcoma/Fibrosarcoma. They said they thought they had removed all of the lump, but unfortunately when the results cant back they informed me they couldnt get enough clear margins because of were the lump was. They informed me it could grow back, to which 8 months later, another lump has appeared, and the vet and myself think it has returned as it is in the same spot as before. The vet has took some needle biopsys which i should find out the results next week. My concern is because this has returned once, is it going to keep returning again & again, & the vets have to keep operating on her to remove it, to which a couple of months later it re-appears, more aggressive & sooner. I know its the only option to keep having it removed but She has been through a lot these last 12 months, 3 operations, including this one, and i dont want her to go through all this if there is another alternative.

Any tips, information on this is very most welcome

Thank you

 

[eingana]

Hi Karen

Welcome to Dogforum Please take my opinions on this topic as purely my opinions, not a judgement on you or how you may choose to face this issue with your beastie.

I don't know any dogs with a fibrosarcoma, but I've been fighting one for over 15 years now. I'm currently waiting for tumour mk IV and it has taken massive surgery twice, the loss of use of one arm, the loss of my ability to have babies, a hysterectomy, a huge course of radiotherapy and 8 years of chemo to get rid of the first three. My treatments and quite how miserable they have made me have changed my opinion on these things.

Before I was ill I'd have considered a lot more invasive treatments and medications for my animals that these days I just wouldn't. I think in your position I'd ask for a referral to a vet who specialises in oncology and go to one appointment with a list of questions about the likelihood of recurrence, the odds of surgery causing lifelong pain or disability and the outcomes data for any chemotherapy that they suggest using in conjunction with removal of the tumour. When you have that information from the horse's mouth you can then make a better informed decision about whether to put your dog through removal, or chemo, or neither, or let her go to spare future suffering.

You as her owner know how she copes with the stress of seeing the vet, the after effects of anaesthesia, the enforced rest that follows operations, the crabbiness from being in pain. There are animals who cope with all sorts of things better than others and when one cat of mine got cancer under her eye which necessitated removal of quite a lot of skin she was left with an Elvis lip and one eye that she struggled to close. The vet that did the operation was clear that if the tumour returned the surgery to remove that would mean losing more skin which would mean she would have to lose that eye because she wouldn't be able to close it, and I was even more clear that she just wouldn't cope with that and so as soon as I was sure that it was returning I had her put to sleep rather than put her through it- and I am absolutely positive that it was the right thing to do in her case. You know your dog.

If you see the vet and they confirm that it is a return of the tumour (8 months on it could be tumour, but it could also be fibrosis of the scar tissue or possibly lyphoedema too) I think that the biggest question I would have to ask is, if they couldn't get positive excision margins the last time around how will this one be any different? Every time they go in they will cause more scarring which can cause more issues in future, but if they can't remove all of the tumour and it's grown back once, it will continue to grow back unless something changes and I agree with you that a perpetually repeated operation would seem a very unfair way to live a life for any creature, especially one that you love.

I hope that it isn't actually a return of the tumour, but if it is, please don't back away from asking the vet the hard questions. I've had phases of being really close to refusing to take further treatment for my tumour and I understand everything about it and understand that I'm feeling crap now in order to improve my future chances. I would not accept any of my animals feeling that bad and would rather let them go than see them go through half of what I've had done to me.

I've got crossed fingers for you

 

[karensharp6]

Thank you for your reply, i really appreciate your honesty and im so sorry to hear of your personal troubles with your illness. You sound a fighter & an inspiration for others.

I have thought long & hard about all this, and i have decided to have this 2nd lump removed. My vet has been very good and has given me advice and support in my decisions and yes I have asked all the painful heartbreaking questions, to which i have found no definate answers. My vet recommended an oncology vet which is a distance away, so thats out of the equation, but my vet has got advice from them.

My decisions are to have the lump removed and see what the biopsy comes back as, as well as the needle biopsys already taken & the vet has got in touch with the lab who tested the previous lump, who have got out of archive, her previous biopsy and are putting some chemicals on it, to establish which cancer it is, to which then, im hoping i will get some answers as to what is next? The vet has recommended radiation, to which i have done my homework on, and i certainly am not going to put her through all that, 3 sessions per week for 2 weeks, each time having her put through a general,and also travelling to the specialist vet who does this procedure, so no im not prepared for her to go through all that. So ive clearly told my vet this isnt an option. He totally understands ands values my wishes. So maybe there maybe a tablet she could take when we know the results, or they may tell me she might only have 'x' amount of months left, i dont know???

All i want is for my baby to be comfortable, happy & pain free.

I will let you know how she goes on & maybe it may be good news? fingers crossed

 

[eingana]

Fingers crossed that you do get some good news about this, although with tumours an awful lot of the time the good news is heavily disguised as bad news

The radiotherapy itself isn't that much of an issue as it just makes you feel tired and sore, but I agree that 6 general anaesthetics in 2 weeks is really not fair on an animal that can't understand what is going on, especially when there's extra travel, fasting for the anaesthetic and all of the recovery from the radiotherapy to take into account.

If there's a chemotherapy agent that doesn't make her too unwell then that's certainly worth considering. I wouldn't put any of my animals through the really aggressive chemotherapy and would choose to let them go rather than put them through some of the things that I've had done to me.

I hope that some of the answers become clearer and help you to make really positive decisions, where you just know that you're taking the right path both for your dog and for you, since you're the one who will have to look back on the decisions that you take and critically evaluate them in the future. I often feel that a lot of these evaluations are based on regret, so it comes down to which path you will regret least later and I think there's a very fine line between 'I regret that I didn't do more to see if I could save them' and 'I regret that I put them through too much and should have let them go instead'. I hope you can find the right path through this and have her here for many years yet

 

[karensharp6]

Thank you for your reply

She had the operation yesterday and they have removed the tumour, & scar tissue from the previous operation (as that may also have cancerous cells in it) & gone as deep as they could do to her chest wall to try & get as much margins as they could.

She has got over 20 stitches & a drainage tube in the bottom of the wound for leakage. We have take her back to vets tomorrow for check up & they may then remove the drainage tube, if not that will be done another day.

She had a restless night last night which is understandable. Today she seems a bit brighter wagging her tail & typical boxer following me around everywhere. We've borrowed a baby gate as she's not allowed to walk upstairs by herself until she has her stitches removed.

Have to now wait for results of the biopsy to see if the margins are clear? Fingers crossed xxxxxx

I'm trying to keep positive but because it's returned for a second time, I'm certain it's going to return again. I've spoken to two different vets at the surgery and have said if it does return I'm not having her operated on again. They have both agreed with me and have also both said that they wouldn't operate again anyway. So now have to hope for the best and make sure she is happy and comfortable in the time she has left.

So heartbreaking but at least I have tried my best for her and that's all I ever wanted