Anyone Familiar with Transitional Cell Carcinoma?

[judymaggie]

Hi, all! One of my close friends just had one of her beagles, 11 1/2 year old Nika, diagnosed, via contrast imaging and biopsy, with an inoperable transitional cell carcinoma tumor in her urethra. She is being treated at Univ. of Tenn. Veterinary Hospital and had her first chemo treatment last week. I had never heard of this type of cancer before but my vet said he, unfortunately, sees quite a bit of it. When I asked him why Nika's labs were perfectly normal, he said that is not uncommon with this cancer. Nika so far is feeling great, has no symptoms and no negative reactions to the chemo. When being treated for a stubborn UTI, her vet noted that there were transitional cells in her urine which led to her diagnosis. The doctors have warned her that there is a chance that Nika will be unable to urinate at some point and will need to be catheterized. My friend said that she would not put Nika through that.

Anyone had experience with this type of canine cancer?

[SasAndYunah]

Hi Judy,

I am so sorry for your friend and Nika... I don't have any personal experience to offer regarding TCC but found a very informative article from Purdue.

https://www.vet.purdue.edu/pcop/files/docs/CanineUrinaryBladderCancer.pdf

It explains everything very clearly...

Wishing your friend and her Nika all our best,

Saskia.

[judymaggie]

Saskia -- thanks so much for the linked article. It is really thorough. Nika is in a clinical trial at UTenn so, hopefully, their research will help other dogs. She is on concurrent antibiotics but don't know the name of it. Will forward article on to my friend -- she has probably found it already as she is a great researcher. Not that long ago she lost another beagle to an aggressive hemangiosarcoma ...

[Harley PoMMom]

Oh Judy,

I have no experience with this type of cancer either and I am so sorry your friend and her Nika are going through this, I'll be keeping them both in my thoughts and prayers.

Hugs, Lori

[Budsters Mom]

Yes, my friend's fur baby had this. I am sorry to say that it progressed rapidly. :o He was released when he no longer could urinate on his own. He was uncomfortable and restless. My friend knew that he would not want to be poked and proded just to pee. It was very sad.

I am sorry to hear about Nika, but it does sound like she is getting excellent care.

Kathy

[Amanda's Mom]

Hi Judy,
Sorry to hear about your friend's dog Nika. I had a poodle mix, Rose who was diagnosed with TCC in 2012. She had kidney failure at the time and the TCC was diagnosed during a routine tap for urine with ultrasound. Unfortunately she could not have the usual chemo drugs as they would have taken out her kidneys so she was limited to vinblastine which is processed thru the liver. She had a couple of treatments which didn't appear to be having much affect so they stopped them in January since her health was already so precarious. Oddly, the cancer did not seem to progress after that and it never became a factor. She ultimately died of heart failure and kidney disease in June of 2013. We routinely gave her cerenia during the chemo to prevent nausea and it worked very well. Unfortunately, TCC is not usually diagnosed until it is too late for surgical treatment. It was this fact that led me to have routine abdominal ultrasound done on my little poodle Amanda. I figured it was non invasive and we might catch something like TCC in the early stages. What we discovered was an adrenal node and several months later when the node was obviously growing, Amanda had a right adrenalectomy. It turned out to be a secreting, benign tumor and thankfully we were able to remove it before she become symptomatic for Cushings.

Radiation isn't usually recommended although with the more precise types of radiation such as stereotactic radiotherapy that might be a possibility now. But usually I think piroxicam is the typical chemo drug used for TCC. Sometimes a stent can be used to help with urination. Again this was something we could not use for Rose because her kidneys were too bad to tolerate anesthetic but luckily it never came to that. We monitored her urination carefully and I always checked for any blood in the urine. I had her urinate in a little dish every time she went so I could measure and see what was happening.

Since they are at UT she should be getting excellent care. Purdue has been doing considerable research for bladder cancer with a joint project between both the human and veterinary medicine departments. I would suggest contacting them if she wants to pursue possible clinical trials. I wish her the best. It is another insidious disease unfortunately.

I do know it is more common in females perhaps because of the closeness of the vulva to the ground during urination and herbicides are also thought to contribute. Thus I refuse to have herbicides etc. applied to my yard where the dogs go.

Claire
(Amanda's Mom)