Animal Cancer Update – Soft Tissue Sarcomas

Soft tissue sarcomas are a group of tumours that grow from connective tissues in the body. Often they don’t spread elsewhere but can be a problem due to invading very deeply. High-grade tumours can spread through the body, and the risk of this happening is best determined by submitting a piece of the tumour to the laboratory.

If the risk is low, there are 3 types of treatment available for your pet:

1. The most effective treatment is surgery, however this must be aggressive to have any chance of cure. In many cases this may mean removal of nearby structures, and for limb tumours, amputation may be required.
2. Less aggressive surgery not intending to cure can be followed by daily at-home metronomic therapy. This is a relatively new approach which targets the blood supply to the tumour and may also make the tumor more visible to the immune system. Recurrence will occur but hopefully after several years; this treatment therefore may be most useful for older pets. Alternatively, radiation therapy can be used to ‘mop up’ cancer left behind following surgery.
3. Injections of chemotherapy into the tumour. The advantage of this technique is that very high concentrations of drug are placed into the tumour, however very little diffuses out into the patient. Chemotherapy side effects therefore do not occur. Success rates are lower than with surgery.

If the tumour is classed as high grade, the potential for spread becomes very high. In this instance it is preferable to follow removal of the tumour with medical treatment aimed at removing remaining cancer cells elsewhere in the body. This should result in your pet having a significantly longer period of normal quality life. These medications generally will not make your pet ill.