These tumors often spread quickly and are difficult to treat; therefore, treatment must begin as soon as a diagnosis has been made.
Common symptoms of nasal cancer include pus-like or bloody nasal discharge, stridor (a honking sound), excessive sneezing and loss of appetite. This could also indicate that tumor has invaded the cranial vault leading to neurological symptoms like seizures and behavioral changes.
Table of Contents
Treatment
Most tumors found in the nasal cavity or sinus passages are malignant, although they often do not spread as easily as other cancers found elsewhere on the body. Prognosis for these tumors often depends upon type, stage, extent and health status as determined through examination and imaging studies as well as patient factors such as diet and lifestyle habits.
Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and lymphoma are the two most frequently encountered tumors among pets, usually found in their nose and sinuses. SCC affects dogs more often than cats and can appear anywhere between their nose or ears; older pets with long nosed breeds are particularly prone to this tumor type which typically develops around age five; it usually develops along the lower half of their nose, sinuses or brain and can result in bleeding, nasal discharge, sneezing or even cause lethargic behavior or weight loss among pet parents when their pet begins suffering symptoms such as these symptoms of cancerous development.
Treatment options depend heavily on the extent of a tumor, with surgery rarely considered as an effective solution due to their size. Since most cancer tumors are so large, complete surgical removal is very challenging, often leading to cancer returning in its original location after excision has taken place.
Radiation therapy is often recommended, and most oncologists suggest combining radiation and chemotherapy as part of an integrative cancer care approach to maximize local recurrence control and metastatic spread control. Chemotherapy serves to amplify radiation’s effectiveness for greater local control of localized tumor recurrences and metastatic spread control.
Studies have demonstrated that chemotherapy significantly extends survival times for animals treated with radiation therapy. Although most of these studies focused on non-ocular feline melanomas, their findings seem applicable for nasal melanomas as well.
Mitoxantrone and carboplatin chemotherapy agents are among the most commonly employed, with low dose cisplatin also sometimes employed as needed. A range of radiation delivery systems such as IMRT and stereotactic radiosurgery may be utilized; such technologies should help manage cancer more effectively in future. Pets should remain calm during their treatments with plenty of nourishing food and fresh water available as well as their litter changed regularly by a veterinarian who will conduct blood work analysis and perform chest radiographs to assess overall health status as well as look for signs that cancer might spread elsewhere.
Prognosis
As with any cancer, prognosis for nasal tumors varies depending on their type, stage, and the overall health of a cat. A metastatic cancer typically has poorer prognosis than localized cancer. Carcinomas and lymphomas are two of the most frequently encountered tumors found among cats; Lymphoma usually offers better prognoses but this difference may not always be significant.
At first, nasal tumors may be difficult to diagnose early, due to being hidden inside of the nose and therefore difficult to identify in their early stages. By the time that their owner notices there’s something amiss, often times cancerous growth has already reached advanced stages and symptoms include thick, foul-smelling nasal discharge (often pus-like or bloodstreaked), difficulty breathing due to obstructions from tumor growth, loss of appetite and weight loss; in extreme cases blindness, seizures or behavioral changes may appear as well.
Radiation therapy combined with chemotherapy is currently the gold standard treatment for nasal cancer, according to several studies. Studies have demonstrated that this combination has shown excellent survival benefits compared to either therapy alone. Surgery may not be appropriate as most tumors make it impossible for surgeons to achieve clean surgical margins and it could even worsen prognoses by encouraging local recurrence or spreading throughout other parts of the body.
One study with 19 cats suffering from nasal lymphoma demonstrated an impressive survival time of 945 days when treated with full course radiation therapy and six months of systemic chemotherapy – far surpassing their typical prognosis of two or three weeks without therapy.
Many different radiation protocols have been examined with the aim of improving long-term outcomes and minimizing side effects, including lower radiation doses, administering treatments more quickly or adding drugs that boost radiation’s effects on cells. If your cat is receiving treatments for nasal cancer, their radiation oncologist can discuss all available options with you.
Prevention
Nose and sinus cancer are relatively rare among cats, yet can have a devastating prognosis. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment are crucial in order to increase survival chances; tumors often spread quickly with painful side effects including painful discharge (often pus-like or bloody), difficulty breathing, decreased appetite, weight loss, lethargy, vomiting as well as behavioral changes that require immediate medical intervention.
Symptoms depend on the type of tumor and stage of disease; however, one of the most frequent symptoms is a nasal discharge that appears pus-like or streaked with blood, usually accompanied by snoring, difficulty breathing and coughing. A tumor could press against your face, causing misshaped noses or general facial swelling; in certain pets this tumor could even impact ocular areas resulting in eye discharges.
Lymphoma tumors affecting the nasal passages respond well to radiation therapy and chemotherapy treatments, providing an effective means of stopping further spread. Unfortunately, however, tumors may still return even with this approach, so it is important to closely monitor your pet after receiving this therapy and inform your vet immediately if there are any new snoring or symptoms that concern you.
Melanoma of the nasal passages can be challenging to treat, yet there are options. One case study featured a cat diagnosed with nasal planum melanoma who underwent radiation therapy and systemic chemotherapy treatment and achieved long-term remission for over two years with no signs of recurrence.
Electrochemotherapy (ECT), which utilizes electric currents to kill cells, may also be an option when treating nasal passage melanomas in cats. Although not an absolute treatment solution, electrochemotherapy has shown to significantly improve quality of life for shorter timeframes than its alternative methods – although studies on its use in cats with non-ocular melanomas remain scarce – and should be evaluated carefully before moving forward with treatment options such as this one.
Symptoms
By the time a cat is diagnosed with nasal cancer, it has often reached an advanced stage. Tumors tend to progress quickly, often outpacing treatment. Lymphoma is typically the cause of these tumors in cats – B-cell lymphomas being the predominant form.
As cancer spreads, it can eat away at the tissues in the nose and even damage its bones and the brain, potentially affecting neurological signs such as seizures.
Nasal tumor symptoms may resemble symptoms associated with other conditions, which makes diagnosis challenging. For instance, repeated episodes of bloody nose can easily be mistaken for upper respiratory infection or chronic rhinitis. A veterinarian will perform a comprehensive physical exam including full blood count analysis, urine analysis and chest x-ray to check for other health concerns.
If a veterinarian suspects that their cat has a nasal tumor, they will order either an MRI or CT scan of their nose and sinuses to gain more insight into where and which cells may be involved in its development. After receiving this information, they will decide on a course of action to treat their patient accordingly.
When dealing with tumors confined solely to the nasal cavity, radiation therapy is generally applied as the initial solution. Without this therapy, cats with untreated tumors tend to die within months without treatment – often combined with chemotherapy treatment.
Unfortunately, nasal cancer in pets cannot be cured, but early diagnosis and aggressive treatment can significantly improve its prognosis. Due to the wide array of symptoms caused by these tumors, it’s crucial that they get evaluated as soon as you notice any of their signs or symptoms.