My dog has inoperable throat melanoma. How long will he live?

I'm so sorry to hear about Reshmk's diagnosis. There are many variables that come into play when discussing life expectancy, and unfortunately not all of them can be predicted. Anal gland adenocarcinoma can be locally invasive and sometimes the tumor gets big enough to cause significant pain and discomfort for the dog, or can grow to a size that inhibits normal/comfortable defecation. So, sometimes the limiting factor is a determination of quality of life based on the direct activity of the mass and its effects on a dog's comfort level. Other times, we can have less direct symptoms related to the cancer, either due to metastasis and those effects on the organs, or due to hypercalcemia, which is a common secondary issue with this type of cancer. Hypercalcemia can lead to excessive thirst and urination most commonly, or can cause GI upset, vomiting, and decreased appetite. These symptoms of hypercalcemia can sometimes initially be managed with medications, but often decisions about quality of life are made when the dog feels ill and medications can no longer control the symptoms. The best one to offer input on a specific survival time would be your vet, who knows the details with Reshmk's cancer and how aggressive it appears, but with the knowledge that it has already been diagnosed in the regional lymph nodes, I would anticipate a survival time of 6 months or less, as the general survival time even with surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy is still less than 3 years. I'm so sorry again about this sad news. I hope this helps.

It can vary from patient to patient, but without aggressive surgery and additional therapies like chemotherapy, it may only be weeks or months. Additional testing that would be needed is abdominal ultrasound and blood work. It is probably a question best directed to the vet that diagnosed the cancer, since they have more information on your case than I do.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I am sorry to hear about the cancer diagnosis. While this cancer is unlikely to be cured, there are other strategies you could consider such as radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy which may help prolong Odie’s survival with good quality of life. I would recommend you check in with a local veterinary oncologist who can review the case and make further recommendations. Have a great day!

Hi there. I'm afraid I don't understand all the abbreviations in your question, so it's hard for me to make sense of what you're asking. In general, I can tell you that osteosarcoma (the most common type of bone tumor in dogs) is a very aggressive type of cancer, and most dogs do not live more than a few weeks to months after diagnosis without amputation and chemotherapy. So if your dog lived for 1.5 years after the initial diagnosis, he may have simply been very fortunate, or he may have had some other type of bone tumor, or some other problem entirely - since I didn't get to examine him and the time and have not seen his x-rays, I have no way of knowing. If your dog has now passed away and you would like to get a more definitive answer as to what was wrong, I would recommend having an autopsy done - called a necropsy in animals. Your veterinarian should be able to advise you on how to arrange this, if you wish.

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Lung cancer can be either primary (one tumor that starts in the lungs), or can be metastatic (cancer somewhere else that has spread to the lungs, leaving lots of small little tumors). Metastatic disease that has spread to the lungs carries a poor prognosis, meaning they don't live very long. Primary lung cancer is also not very good, but has the potential of maybe being responsive to surgery or chemotherapy. In general, lung cancer means they don't have too much time. The amount of time is unknown, and depends on your dog's body, the type of cancer, and how strong your dog is at this point and how much of the lung is affected. I would however expect the disease to progress, and would be thinking in terms of weeks, not months or years. They tend to start to have trouble breathing and then go downhill quickly after that. I am sorry about your little one, I hope your dog feels ok.

Even if I had all the information regarding your dog's medical history, I would not be able to give you an accurate answer, it could be a week and it could be several months, all depends on the progression rate of the tumor as well as the metastasis process.

Hello, Im so sorry to hear about Nemo. There are various types of lymphoma that have different degree of aggressiveness. Although steroids is one form of treatment, there are multiple other chemotherapy agents that could increase his life expectancy. With steroids alone however, expect survival time is about 1-3 months depending on the type of lymphoma. Additional chemotherapy can increase survival time up to a year. If you're interested in chemotherapy for Nemo, have your veterinarian consult with or refer Nemo to see an oncologist. He may need additional testing to determine the type of lymphoma he has and offer you a better informed prognosis for him. Hope this helps and best of luck.