I am hopeful that some on the board can shed some light on the disturbing phone call I received last evening. One of my puppies lives with a wonderful family in Boston. She is almost 8 months old now. Approximately two weeks ago, the puppy's mom noticed a small lesion on her inner thigh that looked like a bite of some sort (she described it as smaller than a dime with what appeared like a head in the middle). She took the puppy to the vet who wasn't worried about it. He did a needle biopsy (which came back NORMAL) and prescribed antibiotics and compresses to the area. Vet thought is was an abcess. Over the next week, puppy's mom noticed the lesion getting larger and definitely not being helped by the treatments. She described the lesion as totally topical and not attached to pup internally. Puppy was totally unbothered by the lesion, no licking or scratching and the pup is with her family almost 24/7. She returned to the vet and the vet had the surgeon look at the lesion. Surgeon recommended removing it. Under general anaesthesia my puppy goes, the lesion, surrounding tissue, and lymph nodes are removed. Pathology report comes back as HIGHLY MALIGNANT with unidentifiable? diagnosis. Tissue sent back to the ab for more specific? analysis. Family is distraught, have an appointment with a veterinary oncologist this week.

I am STUNNED. For one thing, the facts of the story don't make sense to me. How could the needle biopsy come back normal and 10 days later, pathology says highly malignant? Also, has anyone ever heard of a malignancy in such a young pup?

Any and all thoughts/experiences are appreciated. I am so worried about my pup and frightened for her family.

Thanks in advance.

I once sold a puppy that had early malignancy. Unfortunately this puppy wound up not making it. I hope your boy makes it through this. The thing with the needle biopsy does seem curious. In the case of your puppy at least the lesion seems unattached. With my puppy they were not so lucky. Her new owners tried everything but with no success. Her vets and my vets told of us to think of it like humans. Why do some children get cancer. No one can really say. While malignancy in puppies is rare, it does happen to puppies just as it happens to children.

Well I can't help you with your puppy.But human wise.
I have a friend she is 50. Felt a lump in her breast.
very small. mamogram + a sonagram came back negative nothing showed up. full blood panel normal.Removed the lymphnodes normal.removed lump.Very cancerious. ya just never know. Good luck with your pup.

I had a puppy that developed an abcess in the jaw because of an injury. A tissue sample was sent in by the emergency vet clinic, and it came back with a dagnosis of osteosarcoma (bone cancer). The emergency clinic vet said he might have 6 months to live. I questioned the vet about the prevalence of osteosarcomas and nothing fit-not the age of the dog, the location of the lesion, etc. I insisted on a second opinion of the histological specimen, and the report came back that it was healthy granulating tissue- a healing wound. That puppy is still alive and thriving 10 years later and is a grandfather.

I teach a course called Biology of Cancer. One of the points the textbook made is that cancer and wound healing have many characteristics in common. I would get a second opinion in the histological specimens.

Thank you for the public and personal replies thus far. Please keep the information coming...it's much appreciated.

I sold a pup last year and at 3 months old he developed a spot on his nose, fortunately his owner is very open minded and pro-active. He consulted with an oncologist and the prognosis was very poor. This pup was raised on a raw BARF diet so we made sure he did not get any carbs at all, just meats and bones. He went onto a few high potency immune boosters and ellagic acid supplement. He is now 13 months old, the mast cell tumor is now very small and he is an active and beautiful boy. We don't know for sure how long he will live, the tumor is still there but much reduced in size and causes no problems. The owner is caqrefuo about his diet and supplements. If you contact me I can give you the regimen. The owner works with his regular vet and an oncologist and uses also some chinese herbs. It may not work for every dog, but in this case it has been a miracle.

The pathology lab should be able to identify what kind of tumor it is, and the oncologist will want to know that before they can recommend anything. Since you're hearing it second-hand through the owners, is it possible the pathology report did come back with a diagnosis, even a tentative one? It's so hard to tell what tumors are without the histopath, and once they can present that report to the oncologist, they should know how to procede from there. There's many different protocols for different kinds of cancers, so I'm sure they'll get the very best treatment from the oncologist. IF it's cancer, and I hope it isn't.
My friend had a Labradoodle puppy she rescued from a pet store (he had been there for months and was eating his own feces to keep his cage cleaner than the idiots that were taking care of him) who was diagnosed with lymphoma at 7 months. The veterinary internist who saw the case said it was the youngest case of lymphoma he had ever seen. And yes, he responded well to treatment and is in complete remission now at 18 months. He is healthy and huge and boisterous!
Good luck with this situation, you should have some answers soon! We will all think good thoughts. It's terrible when youngsters get cancer.