How Long Can a Cat Live With Nasal Cancer?
By the time your cat shows signs of nasal cancer, it has often reached an advanced stage. By then, its tumor may have spread beyond just his nose and paranasal sinuses into surrounding structures or even into his cranial vault (where his brain sits).
Common symptoms of disease may include nasal discharge, stridor, weight loss, coughing and behavioral changes. Radiation therapy may be recommended and although not curative it does improve quality of life.
Early Diagnosis
Nasal tumors are relatively prevalent among middle-aged to older dogs and cats, often going undetected until symptoms such as discharge, sneezing and weight loss, lethargy or difficulty breathing emerge. Furthermore, nasal tumors can alter your pet’s physical appearance by creating abnormal bumps on his/her face or disfiguring their nose into something less than ideal.
Prognosis for cats with nasal fibrosarcoma is typically poor; cancer rarely curable but symptoms may improve with treatment.
Early diagnosis is key for your pet’s survival. Once a pet owner detects signs of nasal tumor, their veterinarian can use CT scanning (also referred to as CAT scanning) and rhinoscopy to confirm if cells have spread within or outside the nasal cavity.
Once lymphoma has spread to the lungs or lymph nodes, survival times decrease significantly. Alongside local treatments, systemic chemotherapy is essential in preventing metastasis – this has been demonstrated through studies which demonstrate its beneficial properties for improving radiation therapy results and helping prevent future metastatic growth of cancer in other parts of your pet’s body.
When your pet has been diagnosed with nasal lymphoma, radiation therapy and chemotherapy are effective solutions. Radiation works particularly well against low grade lymphomas; one study concluded that megavoltage radiation plus chemotherapy was associated with longest survival rates among cats with nasal tumors. Most radiation oncology facilities offer this procedure using cobalt or linear accelerators; various techniques are being evaluated in order to improve long-term survival while reducing side effects.
Treatment Options
Like many cancers, nasal tumors typically only show their symptoms at late stages; thus any cat who exhibits signs of nasal cancer should visit a veterinarian as soon as possible.
As its name implies, a nose tumor is a mass of cancerous cells found within the nasal cavity or sinus passages that has the potential to spread cancer to other parts of the body if left untreated. While relatively rare cancerous tumors of this kind do exist in cats; their prognosis remains uncertain without intervention.
Radiation therapy is the go-to treatment for nose and sinus cancers in pets, using large doses of radiation directed directly at tumors to destroy them and induce healing. Treatments are painless as pets are anesthetized during each procedure; treatment sessions typically span weeks or even months.
Combinations of radiation and chemotherapy may also be used, in an effort to boost the effects of radiation and prolong survival times. Mitoxantrone, doxorubicin and low dose cisplatin are among the chemotherapy drugs considered radiosensitizers.
Nasal tumors remain poorly understood; however, exposure to tobacco smoke and living in urban areas have been identified as risk factors. Cats who have had history with feline leukemia virus or feline immunodeficiency virus appear prone to lymphoma development, including nasal lymphoma.
Removing nasal tumors through surgery can be extremely complex due to limited space available within the nose and sinuses and close proximity of delicate structures such as eyes and the brain. Aggressive cytoreductive surgery often carries with it high rates of morbidity as well as complications or recurrence of tumor in other locations.
Radiation Therapy
Nasal cancer in cats is relatively uncommon. Much like other forms of feline lymphoma, nasal lymphoma typically responds well to radiation therapy; tumors may shrink significantly and make other treatments more effective. Radiation therapy may also be combined with chemotherapy treatment – discuss this possibility with your veterinarian for maximum effectiveness.
symptoms of nasal cancer can often mimic those caused by infection, delaying diagnosis. One telltale sign is persistent runny nose (epistaxis), where excess phlegm accumulates, leading to difficulty breathing, stridor and even the pet spitting out puddles of sticky mucus onto surfaces around them. Other indicators may include weight loss and lethargy as other potential warning signals.
At a physical exam, your vet will collect blood and urine samples from your pet for analysis to look for any signs of cancer in other parts of their body. If a tumor is suspected in their nasal cavity, fine needle aspiration can be performed to obtain tissue samples for biopsy.
Within two weeks of being diagnosed, biopsy results will usually become available, enabling your veterinarian to decide whether your pet can be treated surgically or with radiation therapy. Surgery is generally not advised due to difficulty of surgical removal without leaving behind residual tumor cells in their nasal cavities and subsequent growth of new tumors after removal surgery.
Some clinics provide cobalt or linear accelerator radiation therapy as a form of treatment for nasal tumors. Studies have demonstrated that using such machines provides longer survival rates than surgery alone. Sometimes a veterinarian may suggest adding systemic chemotherapy as an additional modality to increase effectiveness of radiation therapy treatment.
Chemotherapy
Untreated cats with nasal tumors typically don’t live long. Without treatment, most die within two to seven months post diagnosis. Chemotherapy may improve survival time and decrease symptoms in some instances; your vet can discuss its benefits and drawbacks with you; additionally, palliative care options may also be discussed if your pet doesn’t make the cut for cancer treatments.
Feline nasal tumors most often take the form of lymphoma, a cancer of white blood cells that form part of your cat’s immune system. Unfortunately, its cause remains unclear; risk factors include exposure to tobacco smoke or environmental elements as well as hereditary or genetic predispositions that could play a part.
Cats living with lymphoma often exhibit multiple symptoms, including runny nose, sneezing and appetite loss. They may paw at their nose or ground frequently while also experiencing decreased activity levels and showing decreased level of activity. Furthermore, this cancerous growth may invade their skull and cause signs such as brain enlargement, seizures or neurological problems that manifest themselves physically.
Radiation therapy is often the best treatment option for nasal tumors in pets. This painless process requires them to be sedated during each session of radiation. Although radiation may lead to some short term side effects like mouth and nasal inflammation (mucositis or glossitis), most side effects tend to be mild and temporary.
Surgery
If your cat has been diagnosed with a nasal or sinus tumor, early diagnosis and treatment is crucial to decreasing its spread throughout their body. Tumors may be malignant or benign and cause many symptoms including nasal discharge (usually pus-like or bloody in appearance), nasal odor, snoring difficulties, weight loss, loss of appetite, lethargy, drooling, runny noses and facial anomalies.
Nailing tumors is usually a local disease process, unlikely to spread outside its immediate location; however, they may invade nearby structures like skull and orbital cavities. Lymphocytes – white blood cells responsible for immunity – usually start these tumors off. Lymphoma is one of the most frequently seen forms of nasal tumor in cats.
Prognosis for cats with nasal lymphoma ranges from poor to grave without treatment, however if this cancer is managed through radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy survival can be prolonged for an indeterminate length of time. Pets undergoing chemotherapy often experience relief of epistaxis, snoring and stridor symptoms as well as relief of their nasal discharge symptoms.
As with other forms of lymphoma, the exact cause of nasal cancer remains unknown. Cigarette smoke exposure, having an impaired immune system due to Feline Leukemia or Feline Immunodeficiency Virus infection or simply getting older are risk factors associated with its development; combined together they likely account for its rising prevalence among pets today; our Long Island vet emphasizes the importance of early diagnosis for optimal treatment results.
