Dog Hemangiopericytoma Tumor Diagnosis and Prognosis

by Betty
(Kalispell, MT)

Reader Question: Does my dog have a cancerous tumor?

I think my 7-9 year old Basenji has hemangiopericytoma type of cancer. She has a large growth subcutaneous on her foreleg that occurred recently after numerous wart like lesions on all of her limbs, head, chest, neck almost everywhere except her ears, tail and eyes.

She is eating fine and has average activity but licks her paw a lot and makes these awful coughing noises occasionally that lead me to believe she may have a metastasis even though this is considered rare by some vets.

She is a rescue of almost a year ago taken from a pen situation and has had a much better life but I do not want to get surgery for her only to have to keep cutting this cancer off until it does affect her quality of life and inevitably be her demise.

What kind of prognosis can I expect and time frame can I anticipate to enjoy the time she has left before euthanizing her?

Suggestion from our Veterinarian on Dog Cancerous Tumor Diagnosis and Prognosis

Hi Betty,

Has your dog’s tumor been biopsied? That is the only way to know for sure if she has a hemangiopericytoma or if something else is going on. Removing a small sample of tissue and sending it to a pathologist for identification can usually be done safely and relatively inexpensively, and the information that the test provides is priceless.

You mentioned your concern regarding your dog’s coughing and the possibility of metastasis. While many types of cancer do spread to the lungs and result in coughing, this almost never occurs with hemangiopericytoma. Talk to your veterinarian about how best to determine what is going on with your dog and what can be done to treat it or at least keep her comfortable for as long as possible.

Regards,

Jennifer Coates, DVM