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Mammary Cancer This is the 3rd most common form of cancer in the cat, it normally occurs in older cats aged on average 10 to 12 years. Cats which have not been neutered at an early age are most at risk. Most mammary tumours are malignant and spread to adjacent mammary glands or to the local lymph nodes is a distinct possibility. Further spread to the lungs and/or the liver also frequently occurs. The other causes of mammary gland enlargement are mammary hyperplasia and mammary adenoma. Mammary hyperplasia is an enlargement of the glands that occurs soon after pregnancy, adenomas are benign, small, usually solitary nodules. The treatment for mammary cancer is surgical excision at as early a stage as possible. It may well be necessary to remove more than one gland, on some occasions removal of all mammary tissue and the adjacent lymph nodes is appropriate. X-rays to check for spread to other areas of the body and aspiration of cells from lymph nodes to check for local spread should be used. Chemotherapy can be carried out to increase survival times but side effects are common and the option should be considered carefully. The average survival time following detection is 1 year. Those cases which are able to undergo surgery do tend to have an improved disease free survival time. |
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