- Soft tissue sarcoma in cats and dogs
Soft tissue sarcoma refer to a broad group oftumors that originate from connective tissues. They tend to have similarhistologic appearance and biological behavior, and can be eitherbenign (noncancerous) ormalignant (cancerous). Soft tissue sarcomas can arise in any part of the pet's body butskin and subcutaneous tumors are the most commonly observed. Soft-tissue sarcomas comprise approximately 15% of allskin and subcutaneoustumors in dogs and approximately 7% of allskin and subcutaneoustumors incats . cite book|author=Withrow SJ, MacEwen EG, eds |title=Small Animal Clinical Oncology|edition=3rd ed.|publisher=W.B. Saunders Company |year=2001] The variety of different tumors that fall under the category of soft tissue sarcomas includesfibrosarcoma ,hemangiopericytoma ,liposarcoma ,rhabdomyosarcoma ,leiomyosarcoma , malignant fibroushistiocytoma , malignant nerve sheath tumors, myxosarcoma, myxofibrosarcoma, mesenchymoma, and spindle cell tumor.igns and symptoms
Soft tissue sarcomas are often detected as a firm mass located on the trunk, limbs, or oral cavity. The symptoms depend on the tumor's location and degree of invasion. For example, tumors in the gastrointestinal tract may cause vomiting, diarrhea, or weight loss. Tumors in the mouth may cause bad breath, difficulty swalling, or lack of appetite. Tumors arising in the
peripheral nerves may cause pain,lameness , or neurological symptoms.Diagnosis
Prior to initiating any type of treatment, it is important to gather as much information as possible regarding the tumor's tissue origin, size, site,
histologic grade (level of aggressiveness) and whether it has spread to other organs.To definitively confirm the diagnosis of a soft-tissue sarcoma, theveterinarian will have to performbiopsy forhistopathologic evaluation . Additional tests are performed in order to evaluate how advanced the cancer is. These tests generally involve blood and serum biochemical tests, chestX-rays to check formetastasis to thelungs and imaging studies [egultrasound ,computed tomography (CT) ormagnetic resonance imaging (MRI)] to evaluate the extent of the disease.Treatment
There are three main treatment options available to treat soft tissue sarcoma in cats and dogs:
surgery ,radiation therapy , andchemotherapy . Surgery alone or in combination with radiation therapy are used to treat the tumor at its original location, and chemotherapy is usually used to prevent or at least slow down the process ofmetastasis in pets diagnosed with tumor subtypes known to be highly aggressive. [ cite journal |author=Ehrhar, N |title=Soft-Tissue Sarcomas in Dogs: A Review |journal=J Am Anim Hosp A |volume=41 |pages=241–6 |year=2005 |pmid=15995161]References
External links
* [http://www.petcancercenter.org/Cancer_Types_soft_tissue_sarcoma.html "Soft Tissue Sarcoma in Cats and Dogs" from Pet Cancer Center]
* [http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/72217.htm&word=soft%2ctissue%2csarcoma "Soft Tissue Sarcomas" from The Merck Veterinary Manual]
* [http://veterinarycancer.com/softtissuesarcoma.html"Soft Tissue Sarcomas" from Animal Cancer & Imaging Center]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.