Good morning!

We currently have 3 clinical trials up and running successfully! Significant financial assistance for diagnosis and treatment is provided for clients whose pets enter the clinical trial. Eligible patients include those with transitional cell carcinoma, metastatic osteosarcoma, and lymphoma. Please contact our office for more information. Phone consultations are available but are limited to referring veterinarians only. If your pet is diagnosed or suspected to have one of these cancers, contact your primary care veterinarian and have him/her call us for more details about our clinical trials.

Hint for the day: Therapy for transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder is usually limited to non-surgical therapies. TCC is rarely amenable to complete surgical excision due to the location within the bladder and also it's infiltrative nature along the bladder wall. Therefore, if clinical symptoms are suggestive of bladder cancer, an ultrasound should be done prior to any surgical intervention. If a lesion consistent with cancer is evident, a diagnosis should be attempted through non-surgical means. I have seen many cases over the years that have come to me after a surgical diagnosis of TCC with disease transplanted to the surgical incision line. This occurs because instruments used to operate on the bladder were also used to close the abdominal wall incision. Surgery should be reserved for patients whose tumors are in locations of the bladder that would suggest a non-TCC tumor. Routine cystocentesis should also be avoided if patients are known to have TCC.