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Lump help

Published on: December 19, 2021 • By: brelake82 · In Forum: Dogs
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brelake82
Participant
December 19, 2021 at 12:53am
Hello just want to first add I have already been to a vet they are taking a long time to get back to me so I decided to come here and see if I can get any reassurance or help while I wait :) anyway I discoved this lump on my dogs belly over a month ago I didn't think much of it I thought it was just a bug bite and it didn't bother her at all it never went away the wound on it healed but the lump stayed..so about 5 days ago I took her to my vet and had it fine needle aspirated the vet wasn't very helpful on what they think it might be as they seemed to be in a rush that day.  They were suppose to call me after a few days an let me know something but still nothing, so since they poked at it and stuck needles in it it has actually grown a little bigger an its got me stressing out just a bit on what in the world is this thing I have included pics of when I first discovered it and now.Screenshot_20211214-070843_GalleryGridArt_20211218_185753423
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Liz Buchanan BVSc MRCVS
Keymaster
December 19, 2021 at 10:11am
Hello!  I wonder what happened to your Fine Needle Aspirate results?  It sounds as though you need to call your vet, explain that the lump has changed dramatically in a short space of time and ask if there's any sight of them - usually it's quite a quick turnaround.  I'm afraid that I can't identify a lump without sampling it any more than your vet can, but this needs further medical attention.  The changes may be cancerous or inflammatory reaction, but either way shouldn't be ignored.  If you type lump into the search bar of the blog you will find a lot of articles about lumps in general.   Wishing you all the best.
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Liz Buchanan BVSc MRCVS
Keymaster
December 19, 2021 at 10:12am
Hello!  I wonder what happened to your Fine Needle Aspirate results?  It sounds as though you need to call your vet, explain that the lump has changed dramatically in a short space of time and ask if there's any sight of them - usually it's quite a quick turnaround.  I'm afraid that I can't identify a lump without sampling it any more than your vet can, but this needs further medical attention.  The changes may be cancerous or inflammatory reaction, but either way shouldn't be ignored.  If you type lump into the search bar of the blog you will find a lot of articles about lumps in general.   Wishing you all the best.
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brelake82
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December 23, 2021 at 10:58pm
Vet got back to me an said it was a mast cell tumor told me it needs to be removed I asked what grade it was an if it was cancerous and they said they won't be able to know if it is until they remove it..is this normal can they really not tell if a lump is cancerous until its been removed? I have talked to others an have been told that a vet should know if a lump is cancerous or not just from a aspirate. I'm only asking as funds are tight this holiday season and I won't be able to get it removed until after the new year
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Liz Buchanan BVSc MRCVS
Keymaster
December 24, 2021 at 12:24am
I should recap the nature of a Fine Needle Aspirate here.   A needle is put into a lump at random and a few individual cells are pulled out. This is useful because you can see what some of the cells are (eg mast cells); it is also fairly non invasive, easy and inexpensive.  It can be done quickly in a consultation.  Usually the needle is put in a few times (or a few different needles or to different depths) to retrieve cells from different places in the lump.    This would be a bit like a giant reaching down onto the world, picking up houses from different places in the UK and looking at them under a giant microscope.  The giant could then say 'look -these houses are made mostly of brick and have furniture in them.  People are here.  Sometimes they form towns or cities, so it might be interesting to look more closely.'  To continue the analogy, a clinician can say 'look - there are a lot of Mast cells. Often these form tumours, so it's worth my while taking notice.' Unfortunately, what the giant wouldn't learn from just a few random houses (cells), is what sort of civilisations the people have here - for that, they may need to know how the houses in the UK are arranged - in streets and rows, with cities joined by major roads.  They would have to take a slice of the country away in order to learn more about this.  What the vet doesn't learn is the shape of the mast cells within the lump; how they are sitting, how invasive or worrying they are.  This can be central to grading a lump. It is true that a biopsy may tell a vet far more information about the layout of the mast cells than an FNA and be more useful in grading the tumour, but it is also more invasive and expensive, requiring a general anaesthetic.  It is therefore common for clinicians perform FNAs first in order to give them a rough idea of whether a biopsy or indeed, a full removal, is worth pursuing. It sounds as though you and your vet need to decide between you how to make the most use of the resources and information that you now have and for this, more communication is probably needed.   Please do ask them questions about their gut feelings and about the timescales and prognoses (likely outcomes) involved.
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Liz Buchanan BVSc MRCVS
Keymaster
December 24, 2021 at 01:05am
I have reread your question there and in short no, a vet cannot always tell the detail of the lump from just a few cells, just as my giant can't tell the layout of a city from having picked up just a few random houses.  However, they may be able to tell that mast cells are over-represented and they may know that this can be very concerning as it can indicate a mast cell tumour.  I personally had one memorable FNA result full of mast cells twenty years ago and promptly diagnosed cancer, to find when we removed the lump that there was a large foreign body instead, that had triggered a giant mast cell reaction.  At the time this baffled me, but the client was delighted.  We vets know much better now.
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Liz Buchanan BVSc MRCVS
Keymaster
December 24, 2021 at 01:09am
Unfortunately mast cell tumours do seem to be very common.  Wishing you all the best and that you and your dog still have a good Christmas together.
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brelake82
Participant
December 24, 2021 at 01:53am
I really appreciate you taking the time to explain that to me thank you so much my vet wasn't very informative and didn't really answer my questions and it frustrated me so I will be taking her to another vet in my area that hopefully can help me out a bit more I love my dog like my child so I'd like to know all I can about this and all my options etc, thanks once again for all your help :)
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