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What To Know About Pet Cancer, According to a Veterinary Oncologist

Pet Cancer Takeaways

  • Approximately 1 in 3 dogs and 1 in 4 cats will develop cancer during their lifetime. Unfortunately, it’s estimated that about 50% of dogs and 32% of cats over age 10 will die of cancer. 
  • The increased life expectancy—for both people and our dear pets—in the last few decades is the most likely explanation for increased incidences of cancer.
  • Cancer is not one disease, but rather a collection of quite different diseases that have in common an uncontrolled cell growth.
  • Cancer generally does not grow rapidly. From the appearance of the first mutation to the development of a detectable cancer, it can take years for dogs or even decades for people. 
  • Regarding cancer treatment for pets, timing of the diagnosis, treatment, pet age, and type of cancer are all factors to take into consideration. 

During my career, I have seen thousands of pet patients with cancer and spoken with their owners about the very painful and difficult path forward following a diagnosis. When a pet is diagnosed with cancer, most pet parents share the same thoughts, feelings, and questions. And even though they’ve heard about cancer many times before, people often wonder what it is, exactly, and how their pets developed cancer in the first place. 

What Is Cancer?

Oncology is the discipline that studies cancer—also referred to as “cancer science” The word derives from the two Greek words “onco,” which means mass, and “logia,” which translates to science.

Cancer is not one disease, but rather a collection of quite different diseases that have in common an uncontrolled cell growth. Generally speaking, cancer is primarily genetic and arises from normal cells in the body that have accumulated mutations (damaged genes) during their lifetime. These “mutated cells” continue to grow and replicate, passing the newly acquired mutations to the daughter cells. Generation after generation, multiple mutations will accumulate in those “damaged cells.”

It is important to know that not all the mutations are harmful and only the mutations causing damage to “key cancer genes” are responsible for the transformation of healthy cells to cancer cells. Once the number of key mutations reach a certain level, the cells can no longer function correctly and start to grow without control. 

These newly born cancer cells will continue to grow and replicate, producing new cancer cells that accumulate in the body until forming a detectable tumor. This is not a quick process, and from the appearance of the first mutation to the development of a detectable cancer, it can take years for dogs or even decades for people.

The cancer cells continue to grow, divide, and accumulate mutations. Treatment can cease, remove, or reverse these mutations, which would put your pet into “remission.” In cases where there’s no treatment possible, or treatment doesn’t work, the mutations would continue to spread (metastasize), ultimately causing death. 


How Common is Pet Cancer?

Cancer is unfortunately one of the most common diseases in both pets and people, and it is unfortunately also one of the deadliest. It is estimated that one in three people will develop cancer, and those statistics are similar for pets. 

Approximately one in three dogs and one in four cats will develop cancer during their lifetime. Unfortunately, it’s estimated that about 50% of dogs and 32% of cats over age 10 will die of cancer.


What Causes Pet Cancer? 

Many people believe that the incidence of cancer has increased in recent decades compared to the past. Increased consumption of processed food, industrialization, pollution, and contamination of air and water with pesticides and various dangerous chemicals are certainly contributing factors. 

However, age is the most significant parameter to take into consideration when analyzing the incidence of cancer in both people and our dear pets. The reality is that the likelihood of developing cancer increases with age, and older patients are much more likely to get cancer compared to young or middle-aged patients. 

The increased life expectancy—for both people and our dear pets—in the last few decades is the most likely explanation for increased incidences of cancer.


Why Is It Called “Cancer?”

The term “cancer” origins from a Greek word that means crab. We’re still not sure why that word was chosen, but one theory is that cancer can sometimes appear like a crab with a main tumor mass representing the body of the crabs and the legs representing the infiltrative finger-like growth of the tumor. Still, it is unlikely the ancient Greeks noticed this. It could be that the hard consistency of cancer reminded them of the hard shell of a crab. 

 

Can You Treat Pet Cancer? 

Yes, you can treat pet cancer, but the efficacy of the treatment relies on various factors, including how early you catch the cancer, the age of your pet, and the type of cancer. 

All cancers have similar characteristics, including macroscopic and microscopic appearance, biological behavior, prognosis, and treatment. However, even a specific type or subtype of cancer is unique. For instance, some cancer cells inside the same tumor can grow faster than others, some can be dormant (not growing at all), some are able to spread while others are not, others are more sensitive or resistant to chemotherapy or radiotherapy. 

This in part explains the variability of response to treatment between the same cancer types. For instance, a primary tumor can respond to a certain treatment while the metastases could not, and may develop resistance to treatment. 

Cancer is also a dynamic disease that changes over time. The cancer cells are in continuous evolution acquiring with time different properties, changing the composition, the structure, and the biological behavior of the same cancer over time. 

For that reason, “timing” of cancer diagnosis and treatment is a really important factor to take in consideration. Some cancer that could be cured at early stage, could be deadly at later stage. As an example, it is well known that most solid tumors—such as carcinoma and sarcoma—can all be cured if taken at an early stage, but they are mostly incurable once they have developed widespread metastasis. 

Remember, you can find a community of people going through the same thing on the purrch app and discuss it with them, as well. We’ll see you there!

Dr. Antonio Giuliano, DVM, MS, GpCert(SAM), PgCert(CT), ECVIM (onc), MRCVS is a recognized European specialist in Companion Animals (Oncology). He published numerous articles in international peer-reviewed journals and presented his research at many international conferences. He has a broad interest in cancer research, with a particular focus on finding new drugs/therapeutic approaches to improve the survival time and quality of life of pets. He is also interested in preclinical and clinical investigations into the development of rapid tests to predict prognosis and/or early diagnosis of cancer.
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