Part I: Prevalence
One of the most dreaded words you can hear at a vet’s office is “Cancer”. Images flash in our mind about incurability, expense, the misery of chemo and radiation and ultimately the dreadful feeling of loss. For decades, there has been discussion on whether there is a rise in cancer amongst dogs and cats. Many pet owners think so. I remember asking one of my professors around mid 90’s if that was the case. Her answer was “No, we just got better at detecting it.'' So, what is the truth? Is cancer on the rise or are we just getting better at detection? Unfortunately, there is no easy answer. Cancer is not a reportable disease and there is no consistent effort to keep track of cancer cases in the veterinary field. There have been a few isolated endeavors like in Alameda County, California from 1963-1966 and Animal Tumor Registry, Genoa, Italy from 1985-1994. From these, and a few other studies, it is not clear if the cancer rate is rising. Even though it is not clear if cancer is on the rise, we know few things about cancer in pets with a good degree of certainty. Some breeds are more prone to cancer than others; like Boxers with skin cancers, Golden Retrievers with hemangiosarcoma and lymphoma, Rottweilers with osteosarcoma, German Shepherds with hemangiosarcoma etc. So, there is a strong genetic link to cancer in pets. But genetics are not the only determining factor. For example, it has been shown that exposure to chemicals applied to lawns is associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer in Scottish Terriers. However, in our little corner of the world, knowing that cancer happens is not enough! We are not here to learn statistics about cancer in pets. All we want to know if there is something that we can do to prevent this. The science behind cancer prevention is borrowed mostly from laboratory animals and human studies. Some cancers such as breast cancer, ovarian cancer or testicular cancer can be largely prevented by spaying or neutering your pet. In addition, maybe we can reduce our affinity for cancer-prone pure breeds and lean towards choosing mixed breed dogs. There are so many of them eagerly waiting to be adopted at the shelters! In the meantime, you can encourage your veterinarian to report their cancer cases at the veterinary cancer registry (www.vetcancerregistry.com). Also, another important resource if your pet has cancer, is to check if (s)he qualifies for a new drug trial at http://vetcancersociety.org/pet-owners/clinical-trials. In the next article, we will delve a little deeper into possible ways to reduce cancer in our pets!
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