On the first day of the Work Experience Program, Madison S and I visited the Oncology branch of the NC State Vet School which deals with all things cancer –such as diagnosis and treatment. We quickly learned that the Oncology department is one of the slower departments of the Vet School as we had an hour of downtime in the morning before morning rounds began. However, once the hour of learning everyone’s name and talking a little bit more about what goes on in the Oncology ward of the hospital, morning rounds began. During the morning rounds, all the doctors and lab technicians in the room discussed the schedule for the day which would include two new patients—Mochi and Bailey—who were suspected of having tumors. The morning rounds took about an hour to complete and then we were ready to meet our first patient of the day: Mochi. Mochi was small pug who had previously had a mast cell tumor excised from his scrotum with passable margins (only 1 cm, not the ideal 2 cm) but presented with a new mass on the upper part of his scrotum. A mast cell tumor is a tumor that is malignant and is the most common form of cancer in dogs that can be treated with excision. Mochi was then admitted to the hospital in order to aspirate his scrotum to put some cells under the microscope to determine the proper diagnosis of mast cell cancer. While looking under the microscope at the cells gathered from aspiration it was clear that there were concentrations of cells surrounded by elevated red blood cells, indicating a tumor. During Mochi’s stay at the hospital, many of the veterinarians discussed several possibilities for the mass on the scrotum if pathology confirmed that it was not malignant. However, pathology reports came back confirming that it was, in fact, a malignant tumor of mast cells.
After the diagnosis and treatment plan for Mochi was finalized, Madison and I were given a tour of the veterinary hospital by one of the senior residents on call. While traversing through the different areas of the vet hospital, I was struck with the realization that it much resembled that of a hospital for humans. We got to see areas such as the Surgical, Radiology, General Hospital, and ICU wings. While touring the hospital, we learned that some cats with MTC can present with elevated and remarkable CBC/Chem panels, but once the spleen is removed, these numbers often drop to within normal limits. However, the senior resident said that the reason for the decrease in the numbers due to a splenectomy is unknown, it is an unknown mystery. The second patient of the day was Bailey, a 9-year-old English Springer who had a mass on her spleen and decreased appetite and energy. Bailey—the dog—was admitted for new blood work, repeat ultrasounds, and a chest x-ray to see if the tumor on her spleen was benign or a lymphoma which the vet doing the consult was leaning towards. The vet did suggest aspiration of the liver and the spleen in order to determine the type of tumor on the spleen, but the owners strongly refused due to worrying over possible complications. However, after several hours and after all the tests, the results came back inconclusive and Bailey is coming back to the hospital tomorrow to have her liver aspirated! Overall, it was a great day and very informative about the different types of cancer in small animals.