Surgery
Cancer Surgery for Pets
An operation done using general anesthesia to remove some or all of a tumor, restore function or relieve pain. Sometimes surgery is also used to help diagnose cancer.
The Role of Surgery in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Cancer
Surgery has several important roles in cancer treatment plans:
Diagnosis
A surgical biopsy can be used to determine what type of cancer your pet has. This will help guide other diagnostic tests and future treatments.
Cure
Depending on a tumor size, location and stage (whether or not it has spread), surgery has the potential to provide a cure by removing the entire tumor along with any microscopic spread of the cancer surrounding it.
Reduce
For a very large tumor where surgery alone cannot provide a cure, surgery can be used to reduce the size of the tumor so that it will be more responsive to additional treatments, such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
Palliation
Surgery can be used to reduce the size of a tumor to alleviate pain or restore function.
What Are Surgical Margins?
Although the tissue around a tumor may appear normal to the naked eye, cancers often have cells that have infiltrated the tissue surrounding the mass on a microscopic level. A surgical margin is the healthy-appearing tissue around the tumor that is removed along with the tumor to ensure that none of these infiltrative cancerous cells are left behind.
If your goal is to achieve a cure with surgery and get rid of all the cancerous cells, the veterinary surgeon must remove a wide surgical margin around the tumor. This generally involves 2-3 cm margins around the tumor and a layer of muscle or fascia underneath the tumor. In a vast majority of pets, a surgery with wide margins does not change their appearance or the function of nearby structures.
How Are Margins Assessed?
The removed tissue will then be sent to a veterinary pathologist to confirm the diagnosis and assess the margins on a microscopic level. Clean margins mean that all of the tumor you can see and feel as well as the microscopic disease has been removed. Incomplete margins mean that the pathologist can see tumor cells close to the cut edge, suggesting that there are microscopic tumor cells left behind.
What About Complications?
We take every precaution to safeguard your pet during anesthesia and surgery. Your pet’s oncologist will examine your pet thoroughly and order necessary diagnostic tests prior to anesthesia. While under anesthesia, your pet will be monitored closely using state-of-the-art equipment.
Potential surgical complications vary by surgery, but may include blood loss, wound complications, and tumor recurrence. Based on your pet’s condition, our cancer care team will discuss potential risks with you in detail before the surgery.
Will My Pet Be in Pain After Surgery?
One of the main reasons we hospitalize pets after cancer surgery is to treat post-operative pain. We have many excellent pain medications—such as local and regional anesthetics, narcotics, and anti-inflammatories—and we typically use a combination of them to make your pet as comfortable as possible. Most pain medications are much better at treating surgical pain compared with cancer pain, so your pet will feel much more comfortable once the cancer and its associated pain has been removed. Before discharge, we will transition your pet from injectable pain medication to the oral medications that they will be given at home.
Common Cancer and Surgery Myths
Myth: Cancer is always fatal.
Fact:
The diagnosis of cancer in a beloved pet can be devastating. But we have an important and hopeful message for you: Today, for pets as well as humans, many forms of cancer can be cured with surgery or managed in almost the same way as any chronic disease. In people, 60%–70% of solid tumors are cured by surgery alone. This statistic is thought to be similar in pets.
Myth: It’s unfair to pets to put them through surgery.
Fact:
Although your pet may feel the effects of surgery for a few days after the procedure, this time period is typically short and self-limiting. In the long run, surgery most often improves the quality of life for your pet by reducing pain and alleviating clinical signs associated with a tumor.
Myth: It is not safe to anesthetize an older animal.
Fact:
Although it may be unsettling for you to consider anesthesia in your older pet, age is fortunately not a disease. Most of our older patients can tolerate the same degree of surgery and anesthesia as a younger pet. The anesthesia team is well versed in safe anesthesia protocols for senior pets. Your veterinary surgeon will discuss any anesthetic concerns with you prior to the procedure.
Myth: My pet won’t have a good quality of life during cancer treatment.
Fact:
In humans, doctors strive to achieve a cure at the expense of quality of life. In animals, our philosophy is different. Our goal is to extend life while maintaining the best quality of life possible.
