Lucy is now near 22 months (as of end of February 2013) post biopsy proven diagnosis of Nasal Adenocarcinoma Nasal Nose Cancer using the Tippner Protocol for Dog Cancer .
She is showing no symptoms. Zero. Plus some of the other skin tumors she had went away. Using no radiation or chemo. Just specific diverse supplements, chinese herbs, diet change to higher protein medium fat no grain diet, and Rx of Low Dose Naltrexone (boosts immunity - proven - generic med - cheap - read blog post on this for links to research).
Usual Prognosis (from Veterinary Texts on Nasal Cancer)
"The prognosis is generally grave to very poor. Untreated dogs and cats usually die within two to seven months of diagnosis. If rhinotomy (cutting of much of snout!) is the only treatment, survival is actually shorter. In selected cases that receive radiation therapy (plus or minus adjuvant therapy), survival can be raised to a range of eight to 25 months. The one-year treatment survival may be only 40 percent and can go up to 80 percent in select cases. Half of the one-year survivors die in the second year. (remember burning your dogs face with radiation is not fun and takes quality time away and costs upwards of $6000-$10000 plus 3 weeks of almost daily radiation) Palliative chemotherapy may improve clinical signs for a time but does not seem to extend survival. If you are trying to select a good case for radiation therapy, sarcomas do better than carcinomas and respiratory adenocarcinomas do better than other carcinomas.Tumor size and location are also factors. Localized lesions in the rostral to middle part of the nasal passage do better; most are in the caudal two-thirds of the nasal passage.Lymphomas respond the best and low-grade chondrosarcomas have the potential to survive the longest. Radiation therapy for nasal passage cancer is a difficult process for the patient and caregivers. The risk-benefit ratio must be weighed carefully in each case.Therefore, during consultation with the pet owner, it may be difficult to recommend conventional therapy over palliative therapy, especially for advanced cases due to the overall poor prognosis."
This herb below is one of many I use but it's REALLY important.
Yun Nan Bai Yao Yunnan Bai Yao - Chinese Herbs for Bleeding Type Cancers
Chinese Herbs
If your dog has hemangiosarcoma, leukemia, or any type of bleeding tumor such as nasal cancer, you’ll want to know about Yunnan Baiyao (aka Yunnan Paiyao), a Chinese herb that stops bleeding. Yunnan Baiyao has been used in Asia for more than one hundred years and is considered a miracle drug for wounds and hemorrhage. It first gained recognition by western practitioners during the Vietnam War. The Vietcong carried it with them and took it if they were wounded to stop bleeding and recover more quickly. It is now recognized as an effective remedy for reducing clotting time by as much as 55%. Hemangiosarcoma is a very deadly cancer in dogs, which generally isn't diagnosed until the dog collapses or dies. This sort of cancer is genetic, hereditary, and it runs in bloodlines. It causes a tumor in the heart (also seen in the spleen, and other organs) that leads to fluid build-up in the pericardium. Yunnan Baiyao has been used successfully to relieve the fluid build up and help with the dog's comfort level.
Yunnan Baiyao also known as Yunnan Paiyao has been extensively used and considered a sort of miracle drug for wounds, pain, and hemorrhage. Unlike Western pain drugs, it does not turn off pain centers in the brain, but instead facilitates circulation, bringing oxygen to the injury.
It is useful for any type of open cuts and any kind of surgery. It reduces recovery time for surgery by half because it mends injured blood vessels. It does not interfere with Western sedative drugs, so can be used the same day as surgery.
By immediately activating blood circulation, it helps resolve bleeding, pain, and swelling. It heals oozing wounds and damaged blood vessels, while expelling pus and counteracting toxins.
Although the ingredients are still secret, the two main herbs are raw and steamed tienchi ginseng. The raw form is cooling, the steamed form is warming. It is the combination of the two forms, along with other herbs, that make Yunnan Baiyao a balanced and powerful "drug" for pain and injury.
Its primary application is acute traumatic bleeding, where the powder is applied directly to the cut. The product is antibacterial as well as homeostatic.
Cuts heal quickly with even a single application, and with a butterfly bandage it can help seal smaller wounds that might otherwise require stitches. In various clinical studies, it has shown to reduce clotting time by 33% to 55%.
The powder form is more appropriate for topical application in traumatic bleeding, while the capsules are meant to be taken internally. Otherwise it is used orally in the food.
It is used for traumatic swelling or bruising, or for other blood disorders including thrombocytopenic purpura and leukemia. It is also used to inhibit internal bleeding due to trauma, surgery or cerebral hemorrhage.
It is useful for any type of open cuts and any kind of surgery. It reduces recovery time for surgery by half because it mends injured blood vessels. It does not interfere with Western sedative drugs, so can be used the same day as surgery.
By immediately activating blood circulation, it helps resolve bleeding, pain, and swelling. It heals oozing wounds and damaged blood vessels, while expelling pus and counteracting toxins.
Although the ingredients are still secret, the two main herbs are raw and steamed tienchi ginseng. The raw form is cooling, the steamed form is warming. It is the combination of the two forms, along with other herbs, that make Yunnan Baiyao a balanced and powerful "drug" for pain and injury.
Its primary application is acute traumatic bleeding, where the powder is applied directly to the cut. The product is antibacterial as well as homeostatic.
Cuts heal quickly with even a single application, and with a butterfly bandage it can help seal smaller wounds that might otherwise require stitches. In various clinical studies, it has shown to reduce clotting time by 33% to 55%.
The powder form is more appropriate for topical application in traumatic bleeding, while the capsules are meant to be taken internally. Otherwise it is used orally in the food.
It is used for traumatic swelling or bruising, or for other blood disorders including thrombocytopenic purpura and leukemia. It is also used to inhibit internal bleeding due to trauma, surgery or cerebral hemorrhage.
DOSAGE: I give Lucy, a 90 pound Lab, 1 capsule 2x per day just thrown in her food. Her bleeding stopped, her infections therefore stopped, and the scary and messy scenes stopped. This bleeding had been going on for months out of her nose. Within a week it was less each time and after maybe a couple of months, the bleeding was hardly ever. At this point many months after diagnosis of canine nasal adenocarcinoma cancer, she has not bled AT ALL for months now. This is not a blood thickener, it just helps the body clot faster when told to clot. The bleeding itself comes from the arteries feeding the tumor breaking due to the tumor increasing in size.
Oddly this stuff can be ordered easily and cheaply from Amazon at this link Yun Nan Bai Yao Yunnan Bai Yao - Chinese Herbs for Bleeding Type Cancers such as Dog Nasal Cancer
Many Holistic Vets tell you to use this for bleeding (or want to sell it to you for a high price....). Assuming you can even find a Holistic Vet near you.
Emotionally anyway, not seeing your dog bleed makes this whole 'my dog has nasal cancer' much less stressful.
Emotionally anyway, not seeing your dog bleed makes this whole 'my dog has nasal cancer' much less stressful.
This article appeared in a Vet Magazine I found.
*things in parenthesis are my input
"Nasal passage cancer generally develops very insidiously in older pets. (my dog is only 7 though...)It is rare in cats and not common in dogs. (not common? then why do I find when I talk to people in general in my town, someone more often than not says 'oh, I know so and so whose dog had it!) It composes about 1 percent of feline tumors and up to 2.5 percent of canine tumors. Long-nosed breeds (dolichocephalic) and senior dogs are at higher risk.
Clinical Signs
The early signs of nasal cancer in dogs or cats are unilateral nasal and/or ocular discharge, epistaxis, stridor, loss of smell, loose teeth and sometimes pawing at the face. (don't forget sneezing and that weird hard reverse sneezing)Late-stage signs may include a facial deformity along the dorsal aspect of the maxillary bones or over the paranasal and frontal sinuses. Some cases develop a raised or pitting facial bone deformity.Some cases may exhibit a firm or soft focal, raised mass protruding around or between the eyes. Some cases may have a palatine deformity from the softening and bowing out of the hard palate due to demineralization of the palatine bone and growth of the mass.In every case of facial deformity, there is bone lysis and tumor invasion at that site. If the lesions extend into the brain, seizures and behavior changes are often exhibited. (there are meds that help this)A complication of nasal cancer is the over production of mucus. It collects and clogs the nasal passages and sinuses.
Prepare the Owner
The stridor and mess from sneezing out phlegm along with the vivid color of blood during episodes of epistaxis cause great distress for pet owners. (IT SURE DOES! I stopped the bleeding using the chinese herb Yunnan Bai Yao. Here is a link to info)Most animals with nasal cancer exhibit sporadic signs in the early stages, then show progression over a period of about three months before diagnosis.Initially, the clinical signs fit the assumption that the pet has one of a variety of nasal conditions. Most clinicians would suspect or that a foreign body is lodged in the nasal passages.A search for the offending material finds nothing. If the nasal passages are cultured, pathogens are often found and identified on culture and sensitivity reports.So, the diagnosis of rhinitis may suffice for a time. Some elder pets have oronasal fistulas from infected or extracted teeth to complicate matters.If the symptoms persist, the working diagnosis is often presumed to be either a foreign body that remains wedged in the upper turbinates or chronic rhinitis.In some case histories, the nasal passages were explored several times without locating a foreign body yet no biopsy or culture was taken. (GEEZ JUST GET A BIOPSY)Since the problem is presumed to be either infectious or allergic, the patient is placed on symptomatic treatment with antibiotics, steroids and antihistamines or nose drops for topical therapy. (good luck with the nose drops...)The patient often gets relief from symptoms. This is why most nasal cancers go undetected for three months and why some cases may go undetected as long as six months in dogs and up to two years in cats.
Diagnosis
The best radiographs for visualizing the nasal cavity are taken under general anesthesia with the X-ray film placed into the open mouth for an intranasal view. $300Teach your X-ray technicians to use the positions from a good radiology text for open-mouth studies of the nasal cavity.Place the X-ray film inside the mouth. Place one corner extending as far back toward the tonsils as possible and take a DV image. This provides the best exposure of the nasal passages.Intra-oral radiography is best accomplished with high quality non-screen film; we use mammography film.The A-P skyline position for the best view of the frontal sinuses of the skull is also very important to complete a full skull series. Look for space occupying or lytic disease in the nasal passages or sinuses. Look for an asymmetrical density or lysis or interruption of the fine scroll pattern of the nasal turbinates, a break in the fine lines of the nasal septum or a density in one of the frontal sinuses.Too many cases of nasal cancer are initially missed on the first X-ray series because of poor visualization.Magnetic resonance imaging or computerized tomography scans of the nasal passages and paranasal sinuses have become the gold standard for imaging nasal tumors. Localization of the lesion is necessary for treatment planning.A small number of patients may have lymphadenopathy. It is important to discuss the usefulness of MRI or CT scan in this setting with the pet owner. ($1000)CT technology is used for computerized treatment planning for radiation therapy patients. So, if the patient will be receiving radiation therapy, it may save time and money to order a CT scan from the start.Since general anesthesia is needed for these studies, it may be the best opportunity to also request tissue samples for definitive diagnosis. Some imaging services are set up to accommodate biopsy procedures and some are not. I prefer to refer cases to facilities that will do a biopsy.
Something NewMr. Shelton, an engineer, with a 10-year-old black Labrador retriever named B.J., taught me a new way to deal with night stridor for affected dogs. I tell clients that their pet can breathe through the mouth despite occlusion of the nasal passages. When dogs are having difficulty with sleep, we try to have clients devise ways that their dogs can breathe through the mouth while sleeping. Mr Shelton used a Milk Bone and a rawhide bone wedged between B.J.’s front teeth. At first. I suggested using a toy waffle ball for B.J.Mr. Shelton devised the perfect solution for his playful dog. He cut holes in a tennis ball because B.J. loved to hold her tennis balls for hours. This was a natural extension for her. She slept with the ball in her mouth in comfort without stridor.— A.(hey not a bad idea!)
Biopsy
If a geriatric patient is going to be anesthetized for X-rays, a biopsy should be done at the same time. The radiographs will suggest the best area to sample.
Various instruments can be used but all require precautions to avoid penetrating the ethmoid plate. Rhinoscopy with direct biopsy of the abnormal tissues is most direct.A long true-cut biopsy needle, a plastic cannula or biopsy forceps is passed through the nostril into the nasal cavity and thrust into the suspected lesion to harvest a sample for histopathology.For safety, always measure the distance between the tip of the nose to the area just in front of the ethmoid (cribriform) plate. This should be just in front of the medial canthus. Mark the biopsy instrument with tape or ink.In cases with nasal bone deformity or a bulge over a sinus, one can generally pass an FNA needle directly through the skin and softened bone into the lesion and aspirate a sample for cytology.One can also insert a true cut instrument through the bulging defect and into the sinus to get a sample for histopathology.In most cases, the harvested material is gelatinous and difficult to distinguish from phlegm. Expect bleeding and if necessary, use cotton soaked in epinephrine to pack the nostrils.It may be necessary to keep the patient under anesthesia or quiet with sedation until bleeding is controlled.
Pathology
Pathology reports identify most canine nasal tumors as carcinomas. Most of them are respiratory adenocarcinoma followed by squamous cell carcinoma and a few miscellaneous or undifferentiated carcinomas.About one third of nasal cavity neoplasia in dogs are sarcomas, with fibrosarcoma being most common followed by chondrosarcoma, osteosarcoma, lymphoma, and then other miscellaneous and undifferentiated sarcomas.North Carolina State University summarized 320 cases of nasal tumors in cats, finding that 60 percent were carcinomas, 18 percent sarcomas and 12 percent lymphoma.There is no correlation with grade and survival. However, some tumors may have a low mitotic rate or a slower rate of growth or a less aggressive biological behavior than others, such as low-grade chondrosarcoma.
Treatment
Surgery for dogs with nasal cancer was routinely performed until data showed that rhinotomy (opening the nasal passages and scooping tumor out) was a negative factor for survival time.However, rhinotomy followed by orthovoltage radiation therapy yielded the longest survival times but rhinotomy was not necessary if the pet was to receive cobalt radiation therapy.This information and the poor survival data made treating nasal tumors confusing and frustrating.Today the norm is to avoid surgical rhinotomy. However, if pet owners are interested in radiation therapy, they should be referred for imaging studies to locate the extent of disease.Then refer them to a radiation oncologist for consultation regarding the risk-benefit ratio and an honest survival time discussion based on the tumor type and the individual pet’s stage of disease.The owner needs to reconcile his psychological, emotional, financial and ethical considerations regarding treatment for the pet. (up to $10,000 in total..... that is why I went the natural and holistic route and Lucy is past the average survival time of 4 months past diagnosis, she is many months past diagnosis and she is in total remission as of 11/2012)Most facilities use cobalt radiation therapy and CT scan technology for treatment planning. Some facilities treat pets with linear accelerators. There may be no difference in the survival times with either machine, but side effects may be less severe in animals treated with the higher energy linear accelerators.Of all nasal passage tumors, nasal lymphomas respond the best to radiation therapy as well as to chemotherapy.Most oncologists recommend systemic chemotherapy in addition to radiation therapy for nasal lymphoma because lymphoma is considered a systemic disease rather than a focal disease. This is especially true in cats.Drugs that enhance the effect of radiation (radiation sensitizers) such as mitoxantrone or carboplatin (some use low dose cisplatin) have been used. However, the advantage for survival is not yet firmly established.I think it makes sense to use systemic chemotherapy because it may enhance the radiation’s effects and also addresses the metastatic potential.This is important because 10 percent of patients present with lymph node metastases and 40 percent will go on to metastasize. Local recurrence and metastases are the main reasons for death of pets treated for nasal cavity cancer.So, there is a need to keep searching for better ways to enhance local control and control of metastatic disease.The side effects of radiation therapy for nasal cancer are quiet severe, especially if the tumor approaches the ethmoid plate or invades the orbit.Patients experience radiation-induced oral mucositis, chealitis and conjunctivitis.The client must be informed and prepared for the responsibilities of home care during and following treatments. Pet owners must also be told to expect chronic nasal discharge following treatment.The normal delicate tissue of the nasal turbinates will never again function properly due to permanent injury from the radiation therapy. Cataracts and blindness following radiation therapy will occur if the orbit is invaded by the cancer and if the eyes are included in the treatment field.Chemotherapy is often elected as a palliative and less aggressive therapy, especially in advanced cases that have poor prognoses. Many oncologists offer medical management for clients who decline conventional radiation therapy for their pets.I like to use carboplatin rotating with mitoxantrone every 21 to 30 days for most adenocarcinomas and carboplatin rotating with adriamycin for sarcomas.
Case Report: Rufus GleasonRufus, a 10-year-old male, black Labrador retriever, was referred with a history of epistaxis and stridor due to nasal passage chondrosarcoma. Rufus, a 10-year-old male, black Labrador retriever, was diagnosed with nasal passage chrondrosarcoma. After chemotherapy, he
went into a 146-week remission, during
which Rufus walked in many 10-K events
and traveled across the country with his
family.
His owner declined radiation therapy for Rufus and requested a less demanding path of treatment.We recommended palliative chemotherapy and chemoprevention for Rufus. Six cycles of carboplatin chemotherapy at 300mg/M2 IV every 21 days were administered.These were followed by treatments every six weeks for six months, then every eight weeks for the following two years. We also kept Rufus on piroxicam at 10 mg once daily and IP-6 and beta glucan.During his prolonged 146-week remission and maintenance, Rufus walked in numerous 10K events and traveled across the country with his family.Facial deformity finally appeared and caused discomfort. Rufus was entered into our end-of-life pawspice care program with special attention to analgesia, and he lived two more precious months before euthanasia. — A.V.
http://www.veterinarypracticenews.com/vet-practice-news-columns/oncology-outlook/nasal-cancers-in-pets.aspx I also use long-term doxycylcine as my antibiotic of choice and an NSAID such as piroxicam, deracoxib or meloxicam for pain control and their anti-angiogenesis action. (this can be a good idea, I have not needed it yet this is a basic metronomic protocol like Navy protocol)
Clinical improvement is often reported for pets on chemotherapy with reduction of epistaxis, sneezing, snorting, stridor, nasal discharge and pain relief. Patients do not seem to have extended life spans with chemotherapy but many seem clinically improved for a variable amount of time.
Prognosis
The prognosis is generally grave to very poor. Untreated dogs and cats usually die within two to seven months of diagnosis. If rhinotomy is the only treatment, survival is actually shorter.In selected cases that receive radiation therapy (plus or minus adjuvant therapy), survival can be raised to a range of eight to 25 months.The one-year treatment survival may be 40 percent and can go up to 80 percent in select cases. Half of the one-year survivors die in the second year. (remember burning your dogs face with radiation is not fun and takes quality time away and costs upwards of $6000-$10000 plus 3 weeks of almost daily radiation) Palliative chemotherapy may improve clinical signs for a time but does not seem to extend survival.If you are trying to select a good case for radiation therapy, sarcomas do better than carcinomas and respiratory adenocarcinomas do better than other carcinomas.Tumor size and location are also factors. Localized lesions in the rostral to middle part of the nasal passage do better; most are in the caudal two-thirds of the nasal passage.Lymphomas respond the best and low-grade chondrosarcomas have the potential to survive the longest. Radiation therapy for nasal passage cancer is a difficult process for the patient and caregivers. The risk-benefit ratio must be weighed carefully in each case.Therefore, during consultation with the pet owner, it may be difficult to recommend conventional therapy over palliative therapy, especially for advanced cases due to the overall poor prognosis." end of article
(The stuff I researched DEEPLY and am posting on this blog has put Lucy into full remission within 4 months after Dx and I did not use radiation or chemo or surgery)
