Can animals suffer from breast cancer?

Q: Do animals get breast cancer?

A: October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This disease does occur in our pets as well. Fortunately, almost all of it can be prevented by spaying your pet before her first heat cycle.

Dogs are particularly prone to breast cancers. Their bodies are not designed to cycle continuously without nursing pups. With every heat cycle their bodies go through a sixty day hormonal pregnancy regardless of whether they breed or not. This hormonal cycle continuously stimulates the mammary tissue for at least four months of each year. The constant stimulation leads to very high rates of cancer. Fortunately, 99% of canine breast cancer can be prevented by spaying young dogs.

While breast cancer is less common in cats, it does occur. Like in dogs, the risk is also drastically reduced when cats are spayed. Just like in people, reproduction and nursing reduces the risk of breast cancer in intact dogs and cats.

Great strides have been made in the treatment of cancer in pets. Many pets can be cured completely. All pets should see their veterinarian twice a year for a thorough physical examination and any new lump should be checked as soon as it is noticed. A simple needle aspirate can frequently differentiate between harmless masses and those that should be removed. Just like in people, cancers that are detected and removed early have the best chance of being cured.

Reminder: This year Clevengers Corner Veterinary Care’s annual Pet Costume Contest continues all month long! Costumed pets can visit anytime the office is open during the month of October. Please visit ClevengersCorner.com for information and pictures from prior years. 

Also, mark your calendars for Culpeper’s first “Bark for Life” to benefit the American Cancer Society. This event is a spinoff of the very successful Relay for Life held each spring. It will be held on Saturday, Oct. 31 from 8:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. at Culpeper Agricultural Enterprises.

Bark for Life is a one mile walk-a-thon where dogs and their walkers help raise funds for the American Cancer Society. There will be dog demonstrations, a microchip clinic, and fun activities for humans and their pups. For more information or to register as a walker, please visit relayforlife.org/culpeper and click on the Bark for Life button.

Raising money for cancer research has the potential to benefit both pets and people. Many types of cancers occur in multiple species. Frequently, promising treatments and medications are used to treat cancer in animals long before they get formal approval for use in people. Treatment of pets in a clinical setting allows veterinary oncologists to report adjustments that improve outcomes or quality of life. The adjusted protocols can be used by human oncologists to benefit people with cancer.

The vision of uniting cancer research with veterinary clinical trials to ultimately benefit human health is the theme of several exciting efforts at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine. One outstanding example is the Center for Comparative Oncology.

CeCO is an ongoing effort between VMRCVM and the medical school at Wake Forest University. Research and clinical trials through the center have already benefited both human and veterinary patients.

In addition, the college is seeking to build a translational medicine wing onto their teaching hospital. Translational medicine means that breakthroughs in veterinary research are be translated into new human treatments. The wing will house research facilities on the top floor and an expansion of the veterinary teaching hospital on the ground level, including a new clinical oncology service. Collaborative efforts between VMRCVM and human medical colleges in Blacksburg and Roanoke will help direct the research and clinical trials in ways that will benefit both people and animals.

For information on CeCO or VMRCVM’s Translational Medicine Complex and to find out how you can help, please visit vetmed.vt.edu.

Dr. Watts is a companion animal general practitioner and owner of Clevengers Corner Veterinary Care. He can be reached through ClevengersCorner.com or by calling 428-1000.