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Oral and tonsillar squamous cell carcinoma

  • June 17, 2015 4:45 PM EDT

    What progress have we made in earlier detection of oral / tonsillar-origin squamous cell carcinoma? Is there a genetic component for it? Epigenetic? New prevention and treatment? I have lost several dogs in my line to it.

    • 34 posts
    June 17, 2015 5:08 PM EDT

    This is a poorly understood disease that is often discovered very late. I have not seen anything published that describes particular breed predispositions for this. In cats we know that environmental tobacco smoke and some flea products (collars primarily) can lead to oral cancers. This hasn’t been clearly established in dog tonsillar SCC yet. Because of the throat location it is hard to detect and specific surveillance is rare.