stage 4 lymphoma | Lymphoma in cats and dogs

Lymphoma in cats and dogs

Lymphoma is a cancer that unfortunately often reaches cats and craps. This affects in particular the lymph nodes (ganglia) at the level of the throat, the thorax, the abdomen among other things. Lymphoma can also reach internal organs such as the liver, spleen, lungs, or even the bone marrow or nervous system.

There are several clinical stages depending on the spread of cancer in the organism of the animal:

Stage 1-a lymph node touched
Stage 2-Several lymph nodes of the same region (thorax or abdomen)
3-Lymphadenopathy Generalized stage (all lymph nodes affected)
Stage 4-hepatic (liver) and/or splenic (spleen)
Stage 5-medullary (bone marrow) or blood flooding

Sub-stage a corresponds to an infected animal that has clinical signs related to its cancer (slimming, anorexia, vomiting, diarrhea, difficulty breathing, disorders of gait, weakness...). Substage B animals do not show any clinical signs due to their cancer.

Lymphomas are also classified according to histological criteria: low or high grade; T/B phenotype; Cell type involved.

In case of lymphoma diagnosis, further examinations will be recommended to establish an extension balance (i.e. know the extent of the disease): imaging (chest x-rays, abdominal ultrasound), blood analysis (biochemistry, Blood count, blood smear, or even myelogram if necessary).

The prognosis depends on the type of lymphoma: high-grade lymphoma is much more susceptible to chimiostatiques agents than low-grade lymphoma, "T" lymphomas are predominantly more aggressive than "B's". The prognosis also depends on the animal's response to chemotherapy treatment, clinical stage and possible malignant hypercalcemia (high calcium). On average, survival without chemotherapy is 15 days to 6 months depending on the case. With chemotherapy, this survival is 5 to 20 months on average depending on the case.

In animals the purpose of chemotherapy is to prolong their existence while maintaining a good quality of life. Side effects are less important than in humans and are often vomiting or diarrhea.

On average in cats, there is 50-70% remission (response to treatment) with a remission period of 4-6 months. Positive prognostic factors are a good general condition at the time of diagnosis, early detection of lymphoma, FeLV (enzootic) negative status, anatomical localization (nasal form associated with the best prognosis, mediastinal form associated with the most Poor prognosis) and a complete response to induction.