Oral squamous cell carcinoma in cats. Questions about Palladia and early detection. Cute picture for cat tax!

[FrothOnTheDaydream]

So, on March 21st, my cat's right lower jaw swelled out of the blue and was painful. We rushed her to the vet that night, and they took dental x-rays and a fine needle aspirate of the lump. The aspirate showed neutrophils and tons of rod-shaped bacteria under the microscope. Based on that and the x-rays, the vet deduced that it was likely an infected abscess and that two teeth needed to be pulled (premolars). She had her extraction the next day, and they removed the little soft lump lateral to her pre-molars and kept it in formalin for possible biopsy.

On April 1st, we brought her to the vet again as her mouth was irritating her. We thought it was the stitches, but the vet said they had all melted. The little red lump lateral to where her pre-molars are was back. It was soft, not ulcerated, and very small. They gave her a second Convenia injection and a buprenorphine injection. They said if it didn't go away in three weeks, to come back. However, we do NOT want to wait three weeks. We asked them to send the biopsy they had done, and they said they wanted to wait. She no longer has the jaw lump, btw.

Then, I got an email saying they're actually going to send out the biopsy (???). At this point, I made an appointment with a dental specialist 4 hours away. We're going tomorrow.

I have a suspicion that this is oral squamous cell carcinoma. She does not have bleeding or drooling, though.

Questions:

1. All sources say FOSCC is not curable. If the cancer is caught early, is not in the bone (just in soft tissue), is resected, and the cat is put on Palladia, is cure possible? I can't find ANY sources showing ANY cats being cured of this disease or even surviving long term.

2. Does Palladia make ANY difference?

3. I live in Canada and do not have access to immunotherapy injection, Torigen. Does anyone know if Canada has any immunotherapy for FOSCC cats?

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I think you should wait until tomorrow and see what the dental specialist has to say. Hopefully you are wrong in your suspicion and all your questions won't need answering, but if they do, an animal oncologist should be able to answer them for you. Did you ask your regular Vet WHY they decided to send the sample out for biopsy? I'm actually surprised they didn't send it originally, but since they didn't, and still didn't when you asked them to, I just wonder what changed their minds .

Let us know how the appointment tomorrow goes.

 

[FrothOnTheDaydream]

I think you should wait until tomorrow and see what the dental specialist has to say. Hopefully you are wrong in your suspicion and all your questions won't need answering, but if they do, an animal oncologist should be able to answer them for you. Did you ask your regular Vet WHY they decided to send the sample out for biopsy? I'm actually surprised they didn't send it originally, but since they didn't, and still didn't when you asked them to, I just wonder what changed their minds .

Let us know how the appointment tomorrow goes.

Thank you so much for your response. I know I shouldn't get ahead of myself, and it would be better for my mental health to remain optimistic, but I always like to be as informed as I can be about the worst case scenario.

We don't have an animal oncologist except for 6 hours away, but the dental specialist specializes in oral tumors, surgical excision, and treatment of oral cancer.

It was a really weird experience with the general vet. She said she was 95% sure it wasn't cancer, but they removed any abnormal tissue and preserved it in formalin. They said they didn't need to send it out because of how sure they were. Then, when the mass came back, we asked again and they said they wanted to wait. I have no idea why. I wonder if the sample is still any good for biopsy results... how long does formalin keep it fresh?

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I wonder if the sample is still any good for biopsy results... how long does formalin keep it fresh?

I think it depends on how it is stored. (temperature, etc) Hopefully your Vet did it correctly.

 

[fionasmom]

The use of formalin is a very standard way to preserve a tissue sample. In human oncology, samples need to be preserved for as long as up to 10 years successfully in case they are needed for further study. I would assume that the biopsy sample from your cat is still able to be of value.

 

[FrothOnTheDaydream]

The use of formalin is a very standard way to preserve a tissue sample. In human oncology, samples need to be preserved for as long as up to 10 years successfully in case they are needed for further study. I would assume that the biopsy sample from your cat is still able to be a value.

Oh, that's such good news!!

 

[fionasmom]

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It seems that VCA Canada and a couple other Canadian veterinary sites refer to chemo, but not immunotherapy for FOSCC. I thought that Torigen was the lab that develops personalized immunotherapy based on the tissue sample which is sent to them, not the drug itself. I am sorry that is not accessible to you in Canada.