Cancer in Animals: It’s Not “One Diagnosis, One Outcome.” 💡
Specialist in Veterinary Oncology Dr. Antonio Giuliano said that animal owners need to be reminded that cancer is not a diagnosis. Having a diagnosis of cancer does not mean anything! Certain cancers can be cured, while others are incurable but treatable or not even treatable. Some cancers are indolent and need only to be monitored, while others are very aggressive, grow rapidly, and cause pain and early death if not treated aggressively.
To know what can be done for each patient with cancer, information regarding the cancer type/subtypes, the grade, and the stage must be gathered. The type is determined via cytology or histopathology and refers to categories like carcinoma, sarcoma, or melanoma.
Grading is obtained by examining tumour tissue; low grades behave more benign, while high grades behave more aggressively. Staging refers to where the cancer is in the body—from early‑stage small tumours without metastasis to advanced‑stage large cancers and/or distant metastases. All this must be correlated with clinical signs, presentation, fitness, and comorbidities before planning treatment and predicting prognosis.
Examples: oral melanoma in the dog is aggressive and often fatal, while skin melanoma is usually benign. Early‑stage oral melanoma completely removed can be cured, while advanced‑stage with lung spread survives only 1–3 months despite treatment.
Finally, treatment must be tailored to the individual patient, as some conditions may affect quality of life more than cancer itself.
💬 Have questions about your animal’s tumours? Contact our oncology team—we’re here to help.
