Treatment of Cats with Tumours

The treatment of tumours in cats usually involves surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy. In addition, there are immune therapies such as dendritic cell therapy. Which treatments are performed depends, for example, on the type of tumour the cat is suffering from. also the question of benign or malign behavior of the tumour is of interest for a planned treatment.

• Tumor type
• Surgery
• Chemotherapy
• Radiotherapy
• Dendritic Cell Therapy

Tumor type

The decision as to which treatment to choose to combat the tumours in cats depends, among other things, on the type of cancer or tumour. A distinction is made, for example, between blood cancers and cancers that colonise internal organs or the skin. Tumours can therefore both form nodes and "swim" freely in the bloodstream.

Surgery

A surgery is a possibility for the treatment of tumours that form nodules and masses. The surgical removal of the tumour in cats is intended to remove as much tumour mass as possible. In many cases, this creates a significantly better prognosis than if the tumour cannot be surgically removed.
Surgery is not possible for blood cancer types, i.e. tumour types in which the cancer cells "float" in the blood. In such cases, at most isolated lymph nodes are removed that are strongly swollen, cause pain and impair the cat's quality of life.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is the treatment of choice for blood cancer. In this therapy, chemotherapeutics that attack the malignant cells are injected into the cat. The problem is that the chemotherapeutics do not differentiate between good and bad cells and therefore also attack healthy cells. However, the side effects of chemotherapy are usually not as pronounced in animals as in humans.

Radiation Therapy

In radiation therapy, targeted radiation is used to treat tumours in cats. Radiotherapy is used, for example, when not all tumour cells have been removed by surgery. The radiation is intended to fight the tumour more effectively.

Dendritic Cell Therapy

The dendritic cell therapy can be used for the treatment of various tumors in cats. This gentle immunotherapy is based on the body's own cells. First blood is taken from the cat, from which the dendritic cells are cultivated. Then a vaccine is produced, which is administered to the cat by injection. The aim is to stimulate the body to fight the tumour again through dendritic cell therapy. The dendritic cell therapy can be carried out by a yout home veterinarian.