[donocco]

The talk about prevention makes sense. Animals are very susceptible to cancer. A few years ago our springer spaniel developed a tumor on his leg. I was away on business and my wife had it removed. When I asked her what it was she said"its nothing, its not cancer. A few years later it grew back. During this period I was giving Beethoven 5mg Melatonin at night as melatonin may have some anticancer properties and is not harmful to dogs according to the internet. When the tumor grew back, I stopped the melatonin.

I asked the vet for the first pathology report. It was a spindle cell tumor. This isnt cancer per say as spindle cell tumours do not metastasize to distant organs. Yet it isnt benign either as the keep growing back as this one did. One difference. Thepath report showed absolutely no spindle cells, just inflammatory cells like macrophages, lymphocytes etc. A much less serious pathology. Beethoven the springer spaniel is back on his nightly melatonin. Was the Melatonin responsible for the better pathology. I cant say for sure but as spindle cell tumours tend to stay spindle cell tumours this is a definitite possibility. In dogs a spindle cell tumour is considered a low grade fibrosarcoma. The second tumour was classed as an inflammatory reaction.

Paul