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Lymphoma in dogs cancer can affect dogs body
Lymphoma in dogs is a condition that occurs when cancer cells affect lymph tissue. Virtually every organs grows lymphoid tissue. Therefore, this cancer can affect any area of your dogs body. This type of cancer is more common in middle-aged dogs. Keep reading to learn more about a dog lymphoma.
Lymphoma Signs
The most prominent sign of dog lymphoma is swelling of the lymph nodes. As mentioned, this disease can affect any organ in the body. Dogs with lymphoma exhibit symptoms based on the particular area that’s affected by the cancer cells.
For example, two common areas that are affected by this disease include the gastrointestinal tract and chest. If the gastrointestinal tract is affected, your dog may experience diarrhea, vomiting, weight loss, and loss of appetite. Dogs with cancer affecting the chest will likely develop shortness of breath.
[caption id="attachment_1535" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Dog Lymphoma"][/caption]Lymphoma Diagnosis
Lymphoma may be suspected if the lymph nodes are swollen. A physical exam is followed by urine and blood tests. One of the swollen lymph nodes can be biopsied in order to provide a definitive diagnosis. A biopsy will also help determine how severe the cancer is.
Lymphoma Treatment
Lymphoma in dogs is usually treated via chemotherapy. Chemotherapy successfully leads to remission in most dogs. Chemotherapy can be given orally or by injection. Chemotherapy is much less successful if the condition has already progressed.
Lymphoma Prognosis
As stated earlier, treatment can bring about a remission. However, the disease will likely recur sometime in the future. Once the cancer returns, your dog needs chemotherapy again. However, any subsequent remission will last half as long as the preceding one. Chemotherapy to treat lymphoma in dogs can be quite costly. The disease is usually fatal within a couple years of diagnosis.
All dog owners should know a little something about various diseases that can affect their dog like canine hot spots. You can read up on many different potential health problems at dog-illnesses.com.
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