Diagnosing uterine cancer

At last I have had Nala spayed (4th time of trying) and we've just brought her home and she seems to be doing well - eating and pooping, however I have had some unsettling news. The vet was concerned about the look of her uterus that was removed. It looked "bruised and abnormally thickened". The vet suggested that they send a sample away for histopathology. Nala's not yet one. Obviously one's mind always goes to the worse possible scenario. What I wanted to ask, if the test results come back positive and the uterus had cancer, how do they diagnose whether the cancer has spread? I'm not sure if the histology results will allay any of my anxiety. Any advice or articles I could read? Many thanks.

Sorry no advice, but keeping fingers crossed for a positive result from your vets tests x

Aww. Thank you.

Trufflesmum said:

At last I have had Nala spayed (4th time of trying) and we've just brought her home and she seems to be doing well - eating and pooping, however I have had some unsettling news. The vet was concerned about the look of her uterus that was removed. It looked "bruised and abnormally thickened". The vet suggested that they send a sample away for histopathology. Nala's not yet one. Obviously one's mind always goes to the worse possible scenario. What I wanted to ask, if the test results come back positive and the uterus had cancer, how do they diagnose whether the cancer has spread? I'm not sure if the histology results will allay any of my anxiety. Any advice or articles I could read? Many thanks.

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There are other possible causes for the uterine tissue abnormalities you describe, Apart from Uterine Cancer. If the histopathology result was to indicate a malignancy then it is very possible that the cancer would still be confined to the Uterus, given that Nala is so young. So the ovariohysterectomy would solve the problem.

UC usually spreads to the lungs so a chest Xray may have been useful for the Vet to have taken before waking Nala up from her spay. If you did opt to have the histopathology done and it was to be a malignancy then personally I would not want to rush in to putting Nala through another GA to get a chest Xray, it may provide some additional information but it would not offer any further treatment options should any abnormalities indicative of metastatic disease be seen. But of course the decision about further diagnostics in the hopefully very unlikely event of a poor outcome from the histopathology report would be one for you and your Vet to make.

I think Nala's youth is on her side, whilst it is not 100% impossible for a very young Doe to have UC it is far less likely than if she were a few years older.

A bit more information here

http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Miscellaneous/UterineAdenocarcinomaRabbit.htm

What JJ said

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Trufflesmum said:

At last I have had Nala spayed (4th time of trying) and we've just brought her home and she seems to be doing well - eating and pooping, however I have had some unsettling news. The vet was concerned about the look of her uterus that was removed. It looked "bruised and abnormally thickened". The vet suggested that they send a sample away for histopathology. Nala's not yet one. Obviously one's mind always goes to the worse possible scenario. What I wanted to ask, if the test results come back positive and the uterus had cancer, how do they diagnose whether the cancer has spread? I'm not sure if the histology results will allay any of my anxiety. Any advice or articles I could read? Many thanks.

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Hi there :wave:

It's worrying, but please try not to be so anxious until you've got the full results.

It's unlikely to be cancer in one so young, and even if it is, extremely unlikely that it's spread beyond the uterus:

http://sawneeanimalclinic.com/downloads/uterine_cancer_in_rabbits.pdf

The greatest incidence is in females over the age of three, and then estimated to be 60%.

An overgrowth of cells may be associated with other benign conditions as well:

http://www.petmd.com/rabbit/conditions/reproductive/c_rb_uterine_adenocarcinoma

I hope the news is good for Nala. When will you get the results? x

Thank you so much. Really helpful.

Thanks

Trufflesmum said:

Thank you so much. Really helpful.

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Trufflesmum said:

Thank you so much. Really helpful.

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You're welcome

Hi Mighty Max and thanks for the message. After a lot of deliberation we've decided not to have any histology tests. I've spoken to a couple of veterinary nurses and as I suspected the test wouldn't tell us if cancer had spread. I know the test could also tell us the results were clear, but if they were not, I think it would make me so (too) anxious about her health and anyway nothing more could be done. I was a bit disappointed with my vet who could have given me a ring, but didn't, so we missed the opportunity to get an x-ray done, but Nala's recuperating well and I think we'll watch and wait for a few months and see how she gets on. If she makes steady progress then I think it will be safe to assume there's no sinister disease process going on and we can then think about getting her a husbun.

Trufflesmum said:

Hi Mighty Max and thanks for the message. After a lot of deliberation we've decided not to have any histology tests. I've spoken to a couple of veterinary nurses and as I suspected the test wouldn't tell us if cancer had spread. I know the test could also tell us the results were clear, but if they were not, I think it would make me so (too) anxious about her health and anyway nothing more could be done. I was a bit disappointed with my vet who could have given me a ring, but didn't, so we missed the opportunity to get an x-ray done, but Nala's recuperating well and I think we'll watch and wait for a few months and see how she gets on. If she makes steady progress then I think it will be safe to assume there's no sinister disease process going on and we can then think about getting her a husbun.

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I hope that she will make a full recovery and remain well

Trufflesmum said:

Hi Mighty Max and thanks for the message. After a lot of deliberation we've decided not to have any histology tests. I've spoken to a couple of veterinary nurses and as I suspected the test wouldn't tell us if cancer had spread. I know the test could also tell us the results were clear, but if they were not, I think it would make me so (too) anxious about her health and anyway nothing more could be done. I was a bit disappointed with my vet who could have given me a ring, but didn't, so we missed the opportunity to get an x-ray done, but Nala's recuperating well and I think we'll watch and wait for a few months and see how she gets on. If she makes steady progress then I think it will be safe to assume there's no sinister disease process going on and we can then think about getting her a husbun.

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You're very welcome Trufflesmum

I agree with your way forward. I think you're very wise in your decision, and I hope Nala makes a full recovery